Miami could give Ultra Music Festival multi-year contract to stay at Bayfront Park
Ultra Music Festival could get a contract to stay at Bayfront Park through 2026.
Weeks after returning to Miami’s downtown waterfront after a pandemic hiatus, organizers of the annual three-day electronic music event received an assurance from city commissioners that the festival will come back to Bayfront Park in 2023.
Also, the agency that manages the park intends to negotiate a deal for an additional three years to keep the festival, which is held during one weekend in March and attracts about 165,000 fans from across the world.
To work on a new four-year deal with Ultra, commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to revoke the festival’s existing year-to-year agreement with the city and allow the Bayfront Park Management Trust, the semi-autonomous entity that runs the park, to negotiate a longer contract within a month. The commission agreed that it wants to keep Ultra in downtown, but there might be more debate over how to split the revenue from the contract between the trust and the city’s general fund.
The trust’s board, which is chaired by Commissioner Joe Carollo, is expected to consider a new contract in the coming weeks. If approved by the trust’s board, the contract would go to the commission for final approval, likely in May.
It appears the festival could secure a new agreement with little friction. Ultra settled a years-long dispute with downtown condo residents in 2021. Commissioner Ken Russell, whose district includes downtown, said his office only received one complaint from a downtown resident about Ultra this year, a contrast to previous years.
“That has never happened,” Russell said.
Under the current agreement, Ultra pays the city $2 million for use of the park.
Before the vote, there was some discussion over where to direct Ultra’s fees.
Carollo argued Ultra’s payments could be used to improve the upkeep of Bayfront and Maurice A. Ferré parks, which are both managed by the trust. Russell and Commissioner Manolo Reyes argued the commission should direct some of the revenue from the contract toward the city’s general fund. Carollo suggested he would be willing to push to transfer surplus dollars from the fund to the city.
The discussion could set up a future debate once the commissioners consider the final contract.
Ultra representatives were happy to hear the commissioners support bringing the festival back.
“We feel very confident,” said Ray Martinez, Ultra’s head of security and a spokesman for the festival. “We’re looking forward to a continued partnership with the city of Miami and the Bayfront Park Trust.”
Ultra has had a bumpy ride in Miami over the last four years. In 2018, the commission rejected a renewed contract with the festival, booting Ultra from Bayfront Park. Organizers moved Ultra to Virginia Key in 2019 under a new agreement, but the event faced logistical problems and both the city and festival agreed not to go back.
In 2020, months after signing a new licensing agreement for Ultra to return to Bayfront Park, Ultra was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 2:01 PM.
