Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Miami says yes to hosting Ultra Music Festival in 2020
The Ultra Music Festival is heading back to downtown Miami.
Miami city commissioners voted Thursday for an agreement to allow the popular festival to be staged at Bayfront Park next year.
The measure passed 3-2, with Commissioners Keon Hardemon, Willy Gort, and Manolo Reyes voting in favor and commissioners Joe Carollo and Ken Russell opposed, according to The Miami Herald.
As part of the move back to Bayfront, festival organizers are offering to limit hours, lower sound levels and provide fewer stages, according to WSVN Channel 7.
“The main concern is having the festival be able to co-exist with the neighbors in the area,” Miami mayor Francis Suarez said, according to WSVN.
“I think there’s still some work to be done.”
The new March 2020 dates have not been announced.
On social media, festival organizers using the hashtag #backtobayfront shared the news in a video they captioned, “Miami, we’re coming home.”
The video featured a celebratory montage of scenes from the festival at the park in recent years.
The festival, which attracts thousands of locals and visitors dressed in colorful outfits to hear electronic dance music, had been staged in Bayfront Park in downtown since 2001, after two years in Miami Beach.
But noise and traffic related to the event prompted regular complaints and concerns about quality of life issues from downtown Miami residents.
In March, the event moved to Historic Virginia Key Beach and Miami Marine Sta
dium Flex.
Transportation and traffic issues plagued the event there, with attendees seen trekking across the Rickenbacker Causeway to return to the mainland. Residents of Key Biscayne and Brickell had also complained about the traffic issues and loud music.
In May, festival organizers announced in a letter to fans that they were voluntarily terminating their license with the city of Miami and not returning, stating that “Virginia Key was simply not good enough.”
Shortly after, Homestead leaders expressed interest in hosting the event when Miami commissioners began reconsidering having the event return to Bayfront Park, according to the Herald.