So far, over 165,000 electronic dance music lovers from all over the world gathered at Bayfront Park for the three day Ultra Music Festival celebration in Miami, Florida. With the conclusion of day two on Saturday, 87 countries were represented, many holding flags in honor of their homeland. The diverse crowd showed just how music can bring people together from all across the world.
Day 2 of Ultra Music Festival went off without any major issues, according to CBS Miami. In the past, there had been problems with crowd control, lewd behavior, drug overdoses, and Miami residents being harassed by visitors.
In 2013 Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff made a case against the event stating the Ultra Music Festival was “disruptive to the local business community and area residents due to noise, nuisance behavior of festival goers, and gridlock traffic,” and went on to allege “about 70 to 80 percent of these kids are on some sort of mind-altering drug.”
After a trampling accident in 2015, Miami city officials considered kicking the music festival out. It was argued by some officials that the positive economic effects and exposure to the city outweighed the negative and the festival was allowed to return.
This year, the crowd returning for Ultra Music Festival has caused the city very little issue. So far, the biggest problems seems to be heavy traffic from road blockages and closures and a few festival attendees suffering from dehydration. The Miami Police agree it’s been rather calm.
The Miami weather has been perfect, the music is booming, and the energy of the crowd is contagiously positive. All in all, the Ultra Music Festival is being overwhelming described as “a good time.”
CBS Miami asked attendees about their experience so far at the Ultra Music Festival. The response was nothing but exuberant praise.
“Amazing. Nothing compared to it back home,” said Kieron Fleming of Scotland. “Better than all the festivals back home. Better DJ’s. Better weather.”
Even back surgery didn’t stop Sara Robinson of Virginia from attending the festival. She donned a therapeutic corset and danced the night away.
“It doesn’t stop me,” said Sara. “It’s gonna be a lot of craziness but it’s gonna be a good vibe.”
The Ultra Music Festival continues to wheel in some of the biggest names in the electronic music industry. DJs such as Afrojack, DeadMau5, DJ Snake, Tiesto, and David Guetta, just to name a few, entertain spectators with high energy booming beats and dazzling light shows. Check out the full lineup for the Ultra Music Festival right here.
Ultra Music Festival posted on their facebook page a snippet of the crowd with the backdrop of an amazing stage set of bright lights and fireworks.
“WOW, what an incredible second day!!” UMF posted, “Good night and see you tomorrow for the final day of#Ultra2016!”
The Ultra Music Festival was founded by business partners Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes in 1999. The festival’s name was inspired by the 1997 Depeche Mode album, Ultra. The Ultra Music Festival started off as a one day event with about 10,000 people attending. This is a far cry from the six-figured attendee list of 2016.
Already in awe of the music, special effects, and positive energy of the crowd, electronic music fans still have one more day to experience the celebration before Ultra Music Festival concludes. The Ultra Music Festival’s last day starts today at 3 p.m. EST.
[Photo by Aaron Davidson/Getty Images]