MIAMI – Forget bikinis and sun block. For the thousands of art collectors who flew to Art Basel Miami Beach, the mammoth contemporary art fair, over the past few days, other items topped the packing list. These include a floor plan of the 190 galleries setting up shop at the local convention center, a few hundred thousand dollars to drop on art, and – given the frenzied market for contemporary art – some reliable running sneakers.

“People will run through and people will have incredibly bad manners,” said Christie’s Co-Head of the Contemporary and Postwar art department, Amy Cappellazzo, of the fair’s opening hours. “It’s like the pirate ships who pull in, then pull out. It’s a voracious and exciting time in the market.”

The fair started yesterday at noon with the so-called First Choice VIP preview. Collectors and advisors had perused the 500-page fair catalog, and many mapped out the fastest, most efficient way to hit each targeted dealer. A floor plan of the convention center, with the location of each gallery, could be downloaded from the Art Basel Web site.

By noon a crowd had gathered in front of the convention center waiting for the fair to start. “We were waiting to get in,” said New York art advisor Sharon Coplan Hurowitz. “It was like, ‘On your marks, get set, go!'” It was indeed a sort of race. After an hour, many of the best pieces, by the most fashionable artists, had been picked off. One artist who has been having a heck of a run is Christopher Wool. His show in Chelsea at Luring & Augustine recently sold out. Soon after the start of the fair, “Unhung,” a 2004 Wool, priced at $95,000, was on hold for not one but two collectors.

British actor Michael York, fashion designer Donna Karan, and artist John Baldessari strolled the crowded aisles. Fair director Sam Keller greeted important collectors and museum collectors with a gravelly voice – his vocal chords had already given out. “That’s a good sign,” Mr. Keller said of his lost voice. “The first hour it’s always crowded and you can feel this energy.”

Two hours into the fair, New York collector Peter Brant stood by the show’s cafe, tossing back a wrap sandwich. Long lines formed at the cafe’s registers, where miniature pizzas sold for $10 each, rung up by the dozen by cashiers paid $7 an hour.

But at the VIP preview, even the most fleet-footed collector couldn’t snag a coveted work just by arriving first. The art market and art fairs are utterly undemocratic. Each dealer makes up his own rules. And weeks before any fair, collectors and advisers start stalking the galleries, seeing what goodies might be set aside. Certain dealers permit buyers with clout to place works on reserve, so they get first crack at the fair.

Following the two-hour “First Choice” preview was a slew of lectures, parties, and events hosted by swanky hotels, local museums, and private collectors. Compared with the sedate Basel fair, plunked down in a sleepy Swiss village in June, the Miami version is nonstop hipster heaven.

Last night the band Scissor Sisters performed courtesy of New York dealer Jeffrey Deitch and Art Basel. Heavy drinking was done to the dulcet tunes of audio artworks installed in and around the pool at the Delano Hotel.

Each day there are a slew of VIP and public tours of private collections – including noted collectors Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, who received more than 2,000 e-mail requests for visits during the fair. Another popular sold-out event is a marionette puppet show directed by New York conceptual artist Dan Graham. “Don’t trust anybody over 30,” with videos by artists Tony Oursler and Paul McCarthy, will be performed every day of the fair at the Botanical Garden.

Art Basel Miami Beach is only 3 years old, but it has already left an outsized imprint on the art market. The fair is the little sister of the 35-year-old Art Basel, which is held each June in Basel, Switzerland. When the Art Basel organizers decided to expand the franchise, they naturally looked to the United States – home to the top collectors and those with the biggest pocketbooks – for a second venue.

Competition for a berth at Art Basel Miami is fierce. Fair organizers report that 500 galleries vied for 190 slots. Acceptance to the fair is determined by a dealer committee (including New York dealers Lucy Mitchell-Innes, Michele Maccarone, Lawrence Luring, and Mary-Ann Martin) and American galleries dominate the roster with 91 dealers, 62 of which are located in New York City. (Germany comes in a distant second, with 35 dealers.) In general, prices in Miami tend to be far lower than at the Swiss show, topping out around $250,000 – as opposed to the half-million or so price tags that often occur at Art Basel.

Based on the strength of the contemporary art market, as seen at the November auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips de Pury & Co., it is likely this fair will be profitable for the dealers. European buying was also strong at the auctions, and with the continued strength of the Euro, foreign collectors will certainly make an impact on sales.

Art Basel Miami has quickly supplanted the 25-year-old Art Chicago as the preeminent contemporary art fair held in the states. “Fairs get old,” said New York art adviser Wendy Cromwell. “It took a lot of steam out of Chicago and came along at the right time.”

The fair has also has the good fortune to be operating in the golden age of art fairs. “There is a tremendous hunger to own art, and the art world is now event driven,” said Ms. Cromwell. “It’s gotta be an auction or art fair to get people to buy.”

Several of the area’s prominent collectors (who are also real estate developers) have bought up inexpensive warehouses to store and display their collections. Hoteliers Don and Mera Rubell (brother of Steve Rubell of Studio 54 fame) were among the first to do so. Their 6,000-piece collection resides in a newly renovated 40,000-squarefoot museum. These private collections/museums added to the city’s reputation as more than just a place to party and sunbathe. Collectors – including Craig Robins, Martin Z. Margulies, and Debra and Dennis Scholl – naturally benefited on the back end as well, as property values in Miami improved with the cultural climate.

Whether art snapped up at the start of Art Basel Miami Beach will prove a smart long-term investment remains to be seen. Certain recently hot artists – such as Japanese anime artist Takashi Murakami – who tanked at the November contemporary art auctions are nowhere to be found. “Use your eyes,” said New York art adviser Thea Westrich. “And be careful of work that is hot and just of the moment.”