Pitbull Welcomes 2019 In Miami Style

MIAMI, FL — It may have been a soggy hair night at that other New Year's Eve celebration but Pitbull rang in 2019 under balmy temperatures in Miami. Patch was there to capture the highlights in a special photo gallery to warm up your holiday wherever you happen to be spending it.

Thousands turned out to see "Mr. 305" perform crowd favorites like "Fireball," "International Love," "The Anthem," and "I Know you Want Me," in a free concert at Bayfront Park as revelers came from across Florida and other parts of the country.

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"I think Miami is one of the only cities in the United States of America that shows everybody it doesn't matter if you're black, white, pink, purple, orange, Hispanic, Asian," Pitbull told the crowd. "Miami is a melting pot ... We all bleed the same blood. We all breathe the same air, and we all put our pants on one leg at a time."

This was the seventh straight New Year's Eve show put on by "Mr. 305" and the second since Fox canceled the singer's nationally broadcast show. This year's concert was broadcast on Univision's "Countdown Feliz 2019,"which also included appearances by DJ Chino and Chyno Miranda from Miami.

Popular Miami Mayor Francis Suarez made a walk-on appearance while DJ Laz entertained the crowd ahead of Pitbull's arrival around 11 p.m.

"I don't go to other people's cities ... for New Year's Eve," Pitbull declared. "I come back to the crib. I come back to the 305."

Unlike Times Square, Miami's "Big Orange," rises at midnight — rather than falls — along the facade of the Intercontinental Hotel while revelers are treated to a spectacular fireworks display and confetti drop.

"We're from Chicago," said Greto Basiorauskaite, who traveled with her sister and mother from the Windy City to catch the show. "It was our dream."

The sisters had planned to see Pitbull's New Year's Eve show two years ago but found that their car window had been vandalized as they were preparing to leave for the show.

They were already planning a return visit next year.

"We'll be standing here for seven hours," resolved Basiorauskaite.

Photo gallery by Patch editor Paul Scicchitano in Miami