Miami extends Ultra’s run at Bayfront Park — but it comes with these conditions
The city of Miami has approved a 20-year contract with the group that puts on Ultra, the electronic music festival that takes place in downtown’s Bayfront Park each year.
In a unanimous vote, the City Commission on Thursday approved the agreement with Event Entertainment Group. While the agreement terminates in 2046, the city has the ability to cancel it each year, without cause, within 305 days of the next scheduled event. Canceling the revocable license agreement would require a supermajority vote from four out of five city commissioners.
In addition, every five years, Ultra must submit a report to the city within 45 days of the event. That report will go before the City Commission, and any changes made to the agreement during those five-year intervals will require approval from four out of five commissioners, according to Commissioner Damian Pardo. Ultra has also agreed to conduct two community meetings each year, 45 days prior to the event, that are organized and sponsored by city officials.
“Today marks a historic moment for the City of Miami and for the global electronic music community,” Ultra said in a statement after the vote.
While downtown residents had expressed concerns over noise levels, traffic and other quality-of-life issues created by the event, Pardo, whose district includes downtown, said he thinks the agreement addresses those concerns.
“They’ll be happy that they were heard, their quality-of-life issues were very much considered, and that we really are blessed to have an event like Ultra where the producers are from here, there are people who really care about noise and noise levels and their commitments, and they’ve been not only sticking to them — they’re very committed to explaining that to the residents,” Pardo told the Miami Herald after the vote.
Several residents at Thursday’s meeting pointed to the length of the contract as a point of concern. Downtown resident Ted Kerr said “no one has clairvoyance. And yet long-term contracts often assume a level of certainty that doesn’t exist.”
“The longer the contract, the greater the risk of unintended consequences,” Kerr said. “Markets change. Leadership changes. Community priorities change. What seems like a strong agreement today can become a constraint tomorrow.”
Downtown resident Laura Okamura said “any agreement with Ultra will have a profound impact on our Bayfront community” and asked for more time to revise the agreement to address community concerns.
“I understand Ultra brings revenues to downtown businesses, and so some residents are willing to a certain extent to put up with additional noise, traffic, garbage, crime and loss of use of Bayfront Park for over 28 days each year,” Okamura said.
For Fernando Weiner, who also spoke at the meeting, events like Ultra are part of what make the city enticing.
“It’s because of events like the F1 race that we have here,” Weiner said. “It’s because of events like the Miami Open, it’s because of the Miami Heat, it’s because of the concerts that we put on at the Arsht Center, at the Kaseya Center. It is because this city prioritizes cultural events. It’s why I don’t live in Scranton, Pennsylvania, or Little Rock, Arkansas.”
.jpg)