There is no official count, but word is more than 20 fairs have sprung up around this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach, quite possibly the biggest tally ever for satellite offerings.

A good chunk of those are first-timers in Miami—ranging from Art MB, a new incarnation of SeaFair, the art fair on a colossal, multi-million dollar yacht that has been sailing the high seas since September, to Takashi Murakamis intrepid GEISAI Miami, featuring artists without gallery representation—and the sheer number of newcomers has taken even seasoned Miami participants by surprise. “We had no idea that there would be this multiplicity of satellite fairs this year,” says Dirk Park, co-director of the three-year-old Aqua Art Miami, which is launching a second fair, Aqua Wynwood, this year.

While fair directors insist there’s room for everyone (“I’m not at all concerned about the number of art fairs,” says Robert Klein, president of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers, which is launching a new fair this year), ARTINFO wanted to know how the newcomers are planning to stand out in the sea of satellites. We asked the organizers of five of the freshman fairs to tell us what they have that the others don’t.

Robert Klein, president, Association of International Photography Art Dealers
“What AIPAD brings to the party is the best resource for scholarship, history, and knowledge about the photography market. With our cumulative knowledge of the history of photography and our contemporary dealers, who also are well versed, we are the best people to give advice on how to buy photography—how to assess value and what to look for.”

AIPAD Photography Show Miami
December 5–9
Wynwood Art District, NW 31st Street and North Miami Avenue
www.aipad.com/photoshow

Nicole Hudson, Art Now organizer
“The most important thing is that everything is priced at $5,000 or less, because art should be accessible. We are keeping it diverse to create a place where new galleries can present their artists and more established galleries can show their emerging artists.”

Art Now
December 6–9
Claremont Hotel, 1700 Collins Avenue
www.artnowfair.com

Shino Takagi, GEISAI Miami organizer
“What differentiates GEISAI from the rest of the fairs is that it is artist-oriented. It provides artists a platform for promoting themselves. We hope that it will give art lovers a fresh batch of talent to enjoy, and that not only collectors and gallerists, but also local and international artists will come to see the exhibitors, setting a new precedent by creating the possibility of an artist-run art fair catering to artists. I think of GEISAI not as a satellite fair, but rather as a different sort of event.”

GEISAI Miami
December 5–9
Parliament Building, SOHO Studios, 2136 NW 1st Avenue
www.geisai.us

Tamar Holton-Hinshaw, Red Dot organizer
“The galleries represented at Red Dot comprise many well-rooted dealers who may not necessarily have access to the more established fairs. We do not cater to a particular medium or aesthetic. Rather, our exhibitors represent a range of styles that we believe will create a continuously engaging presentation for viewers to the fair.”

Red Dot
December 6–9
South Seas Hotel, 1751 Collins Avenue
www.reddotfair.com

Dirk Park, Aqua Wynwood co-director
“Aqua Wynwood has a more gallery-like feel. The booths are built with 12-foot sheetrock walls, and the lighting is more like what you would find in a real gallery. A lot of people we worked with [at Aqua] in the past had expressed an interest in doing a booth show”—Aqua takes place in the rooms of the Aqua Hotel in South Beach—“so we’ll see where it goes.”

Aqua Wynwood
December 5–9
42 NE 25th Street
www.aquaartmiami.com

Newsmaker is an ARTINFO column.