Ultra’s Next Move: Return to South Beach?

After years of complaints from Miami residents and a not-so-ideal experience involving Fyre Fest comparisons and actual fires last year at Virginia Key, Ultra Music Festival’s search for a new home continues, however, might land in a familiar place, after all. Since they announced their voluntary leave from their 20-year home in downtown Miami, the city has reached out with a proposal for next year’s location: South Beach’s Lummus Park, the original beach-front location from the festival’s first couple years in existence in 1999-2000.

Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola has vouched for the festival’s return, despite concerns from the city council of bringing unwanted crowds and chaos to the city. “Inviting an established, well-organized event like Ultra for Spring Break 2020 will put heads in beds and serve as the counter-programming mechanism against the unorganized chaos that was Spring Break 2019 in Miami Beach,” Arriola wrote in a memo to commissioners. Adamant that the festival would actually help regulate and organize the spring break influx, Arriola has expressed that the alternative would be to make Miami Beach a police state, costing the city millions of dollars on security.

Also in consideration is Homestead-Miami Speedway, which would transform the festival to assimilate that of its less-citified counterparts like EDC Las Vegas or Ultra’s own rendition in South Africa. While this new remote locale would forfeit access to hotels and after-parties, it might pose more lenient curfew and noise regulations, allowing for a dusk-till-dawn schedule and a more rustic camping experience.