Ultra Music Festival makes its return to Miami’s Bayfront Park after two-year COVID delay
Two years ago, Miles Jones stuck with his trip to south Florida even after the Ultra Music Festival announced the cancellation of its internationally revered music festival as the pandemic rippled its way across the country.
But just as the San Francisco native was heading to the beach in Fort Lauderdale, officials began shutting them down too, making a disappointing trip even worse.
So Jones’ return to the three-day electronic music event this weekend after a long hiatus was especially sweet and a long-time coming.
“We really had no problems inside with the logistics,” said the 24-year-old Jones, except for a brief scuffle with an unruly attendee during the Martin Garrix set. “Alesso was awesome… I’m feeling awesome.”
More than 150 different artists played seven different stages on Bayfront Park through Sunday evening. While cloud cover kept temperatures a bit cooler on Friday, the estimated 55,000 daily festival attendees were treated to a sun-splashed Saturday and Sunday.
Heavier lines began snaking around Biscayne Boulevard in the 5 p.m. hour each day, as most artists arrived on the opposite side of the park via boats. All the while, a helicopter swirled above keeping a bird’s eye view.
Police reported minimal problems. Four arrests were made on Friday with another 10 on Saturday, mostly for possession of narcotics, according to the Miami Police Department.
But overall, most people were just glad to be there after COVID-19 derailed live music for the better part of two years.
Slushii, a 24-year-old producer originally from New Jersey, said it was his childhood dream to play Ultra, which debuted in 1999 as a single-day event.
“This year it was just like coming back to, oh ok, this is Ultra,” he said. “We’re back on the boat. It’s awesome.”
Carl Cox, a legendary British techno producer, has performed at every Ultra since 2001 and has his own personally branded stage dubbed, “The Resistance.”
Cox said years ago he gave the festival an ultimatum: Give him his own stage or he might not come back. Ultra agreed and now Cox is the only DJ who plays all three nights for three hours.
“I just didn’t want Carl Cox to be lumped in with all the other main DJs on the main stage. I had more to give than that. I had more to give than just an hour worth of my music. To give them more of who I am, I wanted to curate a festival within a festival. And that’s what’s happened over the years,” Cox said.
Getting every piece of a music festival perfect is practically impossible, of course. And there were some snafus.
On Saturday, John Summit, a rising star who is known for his high-tempo party house tracks, played at “The Cove,” a stage usually reserved for smaller artists. But Summit’s loyal fan base overwhelmed the space, which was obviously too small for his flourishing act. Fans were stuck behind trees in the park and couldn’t fully hear the performance.
“Why’s he playing here?,” asked one female.
“He’s on the wrong stage,” complained another.
Summit’s team expected that would happen and hopes it proves a point to Ultra that the baby-faced DJ deserves higher billing in future years to come.
Still, it was hard to dampen the ebullient mood that pulsed throughout the festival, which drew international fans from places as far as Brazil and South Korea.
“They’ve been very clever to sustain such a festival event which is predominantly known worldwide,” Cox said.
This story was originally published March 27, 2022 at 1:14 PM.
