How Ultra Music Festival Helped Pave the Way for Florida’s Live EDM Scene – Respect My Region

Although the last in-person Ultra Music Festival (UMF) was in 2019 due to COVID-19 cancellations, the live event is back and better than ever for its 2022 edition. UMF is a legendary outdoor EDM festival that takes place in Miami, Florida, among other global locations. Their existence and success have been the blueprint for other festivals that aim to provide top-notch entertainment and capture massive amounts of concertgoers’ attention.
Continue reading to learn about Ultra’s beginnings and how it shaped the Florida EDM scene and industry.
_{Photo by Antoine J via Unsplash}
Founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch & Alex Omes, and named after the Ultra Music label, is the beloved Ultra Music Festival. The festival runs alongside EDM events, Miami Music Week and the Winter Music Conference. From its start to 2010, it has been a two-day festival, but now the festival spans three days. The first festival had 10,000 attendees. While first held on Miami Beach, it has primarily been held at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami. While artists at Ultra’s first festival included Paul van Dyk, Josh Wink, and DJ Baby Anne, Ultra Music Festival has continually brought the biggest names in electronic dance music to Miami. This includes performances by Tiësto, Afrojack, Zedd, and more.
2012 was a huge year for UMF. By 2012, the festival had a record attendance of 155,000 people, with early bird pre-sale tickets sold out within seconds; this didn’t go unnoticed. Although Ultra Music Festival wasn’t tied to Ultra Records in the beginning, the two entities announced a global alliance. This allowed them to collaborate on marketing and cross-promotion. In the same year, Road to Ultra, a single-day event, started taking place in Japan, Taiwan, Peru, among other places. Lastly, in 2012, the festival also began to produce an official live streaming broadcast, something many festivals still do today.
Overall, the festival has won “Best Music Event” from 2008-2011 and in 2018. Furthermore, every year since UMF’s inception, except for 2017, they’ve been nominated for a music/festival-centered award. Their success helped make way for several other Florida festivals to proceed it and gain sizable attendance right off the bat.
While Florida has a huge festival scene, it wasn’t always that way. Ultra opened doors for other music festivals to pop up not only in Miami, but all across Florida as well. Its largest successor in the state is EDC Orlando, which originated in 2011 and brings together hundreds of thousands of EDM fans annually. Following behind in size is Sunset Music Festival, which originated in 2010 and takes place in Tampa. Additionally, smaller festivals such as iii Points and Hulaween started after 2013. Now, new Florida EDM festivals are popping up left and right, including Countdown, Thunder Beats, Skyline Orlando, Shipwrecked, Sol Fest, and so many more. These events arguably couldn’t have succeeded at a high level without UMF paving the way for Florida festivals decades prior.
Furthermore, according to the City of Miami, Ultra has “generated approximately $995 million of economic impact” since 2012.
The festival stayed successful leading up to 2019 when the pandemic hit; UMF was canceled in person but they still hosted virtual festivals. Virtual festivals weren’t new but their use during the pandemic was innovative for Ultra to be a part of for the time being. Teamed up with Sirius XM, Ultra’s virtual festivals included names like Martin Garrix, Major Lazer, Afrojack, and more.
This year, Ultra will be held in-person and has Florida residents buzzing until the dates arrive in just a couple weeks. The lineup includes artists like David Guetta, DJ Snake, Alesso, Kygo, Alison Wonderland, and Jauz, to name a few.
The 2022 edition of Ultra Music Festival takes place on March 25th to 27th at Bayfront Park in Miami. If you’re looking to attend, you’re out of luck as the event is completely sold out. But, take this as a lesson to plan early next year!
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