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."