Last checked: September 24, 2026. Dates, prices and partners below come from each organizer’s own site; we’ll update this guide as the 2026 exhibitor lists and parties are announced.
Every December, the art world packs its sunglasses and lands in Miami Beach. Blue-chip dealers fly in from five continents, collectors move between the Convention Center and the causeways, Wynwood fills up, and for one week the whole city turns into a gallery. The anchor is Art Basel Miami Beach, and in 2026 it runs December 4–6, with invitation-only VIP days on December 2 and 3.
Here’s everything you need: dates, tickets, what’s inside the fair, who’s behind it, what sold last year, and every major fair running alongside it.
Art Basel Miami Beach 2026: the quick facts
- Public days: Friday, December 4 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
- VIP days (invitation only): Wednesday, December 2 and Thursday, December 3
- Venue: Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
- Tickets: from $68 (reduced) to $170 (weekend), sold through Art Basel’s official ticket shop
- Global Lead Partner: UBS
- Director: Bridget Finn
- Official site: artbasel.com/miami-beach
Tickets: what they cost and which one to buy
Tickets are on sale now in Art Basel’s official ticket shop. These are the general admission prices listed on September 24, 2026:
| Ticket | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Day Ticket | $92 | One public day (Dec 4, 5 or 6), single entry |
| First Access Ticket | $105 | One public day, in from 11am, an hour before the official opening |
| Weekend Ticket | $170 | Saturday Dec 5 and Sunday Dec 6, with re-entry |
| Reduced Day Ticket | $68 | Students, visitors aged 13–18, seniors, veterans and Miami Beach residents (proof required) |
| Art Basel & Design Miami Combination | $132 | One day at Art Basel plus one public day at Design Miami (they can be different days) |
Premium passes are also sold in the same shop. Our pick: the $105 First Access ticket. Friday afternoon at Art Basel is shoulder-to-shoulder, and that extra hour is the calmest you’ll get. If you want to do Design Miami too, the $132 combo saves you a second line.
What’s inside the fair
Art Basel Miami Beach is organized into sectors, and knowing them is the fastest way to find what you like:
- Galleries – the main sector, where the world’s leading galleries show Modern and contemporary work. Last year’s list included Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace and White Cube.
- Nova – recent work, often from younger galleries showing a small number of artists.
- Positions – solo presentations by emerging artists. In 2025, Nova and Positions moved to their own entrance on the east side of the building, on Washington Avenue.
- Survey – historical, art-historically focused presentations.
- Kabinett – small, curated shows set up inside gallery booths.
- Meridians – the big stuff: large-scale works and installations. The 2025 edition, The Shape of Time, was curated by Yasmil Raymond and showed 19 works.
- Zero 10 – Art Basel’s platform for digital art, launched in Miami Beach in 2025 with Pace, Art Blocks and Beeple Studios among the first participants. Art Basel lists it for the 2026 Miami Beach show.
- Conversations – the fair’s talks program with artists, curators and collectors.
The 2026 exhibitor list and sector lineup haven’t been published yet. The exhibitors page still shows 2025’s galleries.
Who’s behind Art Basel Miami Beach 2026
Art Basel is owned by Switzerland’s MCH Group and runs fairs in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, Paris and Qatar. UBS is the Global Lead Partner. Here’s everyone on the Miami Beach partner page as of September 24:
- Global Lead Partner: UBS
- Premium Partner: Qatar Airways
- Associate Partners: Hong Kong Tourism Board, Audemars Piguet, NetJets, BMW
- Show Partners: Sotheby’s International Realty, Airbnb
- Host Partners: Ruinart, Chubb
- Official Partners: Samsung, Zegna, JNBY
- Official Furniture Partner: Salone del Mobile.Milano
- Official Hotel Partners: Grand Beach Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton South Beach
Partner lists can change before the show; Art Basel’s page is the final word.
Last year by the numbers
The 2025 edition was Bridget Finn’s second as director. According to Art Basel’s closing report, it brought together 283 galleries from 43 countries and territories, including 48 first-time exhibitors, and drew more than 80,000 visitors across its VIP and public days. Representatives of more than 240 museums and foundations attended.
And the art sold. Here are the biggest reported sales, as tracked by Artsy:
Andy Warhol’s Muhammad Ali (1977) topped the week at a reported $18 million with Lévy Gorvy Dayan. David Zwirner reported a Gerhard Richter painting at $5.5 million on the VIP day, and Hauser & Wirth placed George Condo’s Untitled (Taxi Painting) for $3.99 million.
Why the whole art world shows up
The numbers explain it. The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026, written by Arts Economics, puts global art sales at $59.6 billion in 2025, up 4%. The US is still the biggest market by far, with a 44% share ($26 billion). And art fairs accounted for 35% of dealer sales, their highest share since 2022.
Miami Art Week 2026: every major fair and when it runs
Art Basel is the anchor, but the week is much bigger than one building. Around it, more than a dozen fairs open across Miami Beach and the mainland. Here’s the schedule for the big ones, from each fair’s official site:
Design Miami — December 1–6
Collectible design (furniture, lighting and objects that sit somewhere between art and function) on Miami Beach, right by the Convention Center. The 2026 theme is Unveiling, led by curatorial director Charlene Prempeh, with more than 75 exhibitors. Art Basel sells a $132 combination ticket that covers both fairs. designmiami.com
Untitled Art, Miami Beach — December 2–6 (VIP preview December 1)
The fair in the big tent on the sand at Ocean Drive and 12th Street. The 2026 edition is its 15th, with 166 galleries and non-profits from 36 countries and territories. Untitled’s announcement
NADA Miami — December 1–5
The New Art Dealers Alliance fair, the go-to for emerging galleries, returns to Ice Palace Studios. Its 24th edition has 135 exhibitors from 63 cities in 27 countries, 45 of them first-timers, according to Surface. newartdealers.org
SCOPE Miami Beach — December 1–6
Emerging and contemporary galleries in the SCOPE pavilion at 801 Ocean Drive. scope-art.com
Art Miami and CONTEXT Art Miami — December 2–6 (VIP preview December 1)
Across the bay at One Herald Plaza on Biscayne Bay, Art Miami (in its 36th year) focuses on 20th- and 21st-century blue-chip work, and sister fair CONTEXT (in its 14th year) covers emerging and mid-career artists. Art Miami’s VIP preview is Tuesday, December 1, and the fair is open Wednesday through Sunday. artmiami.com
More fairs to know
These haven’t posted full 2026 details on their own sites yet, so double-check before you go. Dates below are from The Miami Guide:
- Aqua Art Miami (Art Miami’s sister hotel fair, 20th year) – Aqua Hotel, South Beach, Dec 2–6
- Pinta Miami – The Hangar, Coconut Grove, Dec 3–6
- INK Miami Art Fair – Suites of Dorchester, Miami Beach, Dec 2–6
- Red Dot Miami and Spectrum Miami – Mana Wynwood, Dec 2–6
- AfriKin Art Fair – Maison AfriKin, North Miami, Nov 29 – Dec 6
Beyond the fairs
Some of the best Art Week moments happen outside the tents. Wynwood’s mural-covered streets fill up day and night. Miami’s museums (Pérez Art Museum Miami, ICA Miami, the Rubell Museum, The Bass and MOCA North Miami) traditionally time big openings for the week. And then there are the parties: brand dinners, rooftop receptions and yacht events around Biscayne Bay. Most are invitation-only and are announced in November, so watch this space.
Citywide.TV’s survival tips
- Plan by island. Art Basel, Design Miami, Untitled, SCOPE and Aqua are all on Miami Beach. Art Miami, CONTEXT, NADA and Wynwood are on the mainland. Do one side per day and you’ll spend less of Art Week on the causeway.
- Go early. The First Access hour, before the doors open to everyone, is the calmest time on the floor.
- Book hotels now. Rooms on Miami Beach go fast for the first week of December.
- Wear real shoes. The Convention Center floor alone is a serious walk. Add three fairs and a beach tent, and your feet will thank you.
- Buy tickets only from official sites. Art Basel itself posts a scam alert about fake ticket sellers.
A quick history
Art Basel was founded in Basel, Switzerland, in 1970. Its Miami Beach edition was the first Art Basel fair outside Basel. It was planned for 2001, postponed after the September 11 attacks, and opened in December 2002. Two decades later, it’s the reason an entire week of fairs, openings and parties exists in Miami every December.
Sources
- Art Basel Miami Beach, official site (dates, partners, visitor information)
- Art Basel Miami Beach official ticket shop (prices as of Sept 24, 2026)
- Art Basel: Art Basel Miami Beach closes year on a high note (2025 figures)
- The Art Newspaper (Zero 10 launch, Nova and Positions entrance)
- Artsy: What Sold at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025
- The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026
- Design Miami and Design Diffusion (2026 theme and curator)
- Untitled Art, NADA, SCOPE, Art Miami, CONTEXT Art Miami
- Art Basel Miami Beach history
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