Nearly a Quarter Century of Ultra Music Festival in Miami

The first ever Ultra in Miami occurred on March 13, 1999, in Collin’s Park in Miami Beach, with an estimated attendance of 10,000. Nearly a quarter century later, Ultra in Miami has grown to over 150,000 attendees over the three-day event. Armand Van Hellen and Josh Wink performed at the first Ultra Music Festival in Miami. However, one DJ who played at the original festival and still plays at the festival occasionally is Paul Van Dyk. 

Having started the festival at Collin’s Park, the festival quickly grew and had to be upgraded to a local bigger venue, which ended up being Bayfront Park. The festival has had to move around a few times due to construction or city issues, but the festival is still one of the most highly anticipated festivals in the world. With attendance starting at 10,000 attendees in 1999, the Ultra Music Festival in Miami has grown to over 165,000 attendees over the three-day festival.

Let’s review some of the Biggest DJs & Events at the festival since 1999. As mentioned, Paul Van Dyk performed at the first-ever Ultra in Miami. Having been one of the biggest DJs around the Millennium, Paul Van Dyk was a massive draw for those in attendance in 1999. In 2005, Ultra worked with Carl Cox to create an area in the festival for attendees to enjoy and dance to deep techno and house music.

For Ultra’s 10th anniversary of being In Miami, Ultra brought back Paul Van Dyk and added other huge names like Tiesto, Deadmau5,  Carl Cox, Armin Van Buuren, Calvin Harris, and many others. For those unable to attend the event, Ultra started live-streaming the event in 2012. Those at home could catch sets from legends like Avicii, Fatboy Slim, Skrillex, Kaskade, and even Madonna, who made a surprise guest appearance to introduce Avicii.

In 2016, Ultra’s LineUp featured the reunion of two huge electronic acts, Rabbit in the Moon and Pendulum. As a result of the constant growth and production enhancements, Ultra was voted the world’s top festival by DJ Mag in 2016. With so much growth, the City of Miami wanted Ultra to try having the festival at Virginia Key Beach Park in 2019.

With Ultra being one of the first to cancel their event due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the festival resumed the incredibly fun weekend in March 2022. With Ultra returning to Bayside in 2022, Hardwell made his much-anticipated return to Ultra after his self-imposed hiatus.

In 2023, Ultra managed to line up some huge names in the electronic world. Those names include Martin Garrix, Zedd, Eric Prydz, Charlotte De Witte, Tiesto, Subtronics, Hardwell, and Carl Cox returning to Ultra Miami. 

The phenomenal back-to-back sets like Jauz & SVDDEN DEATH, Hi-Lo & Testpilot, and Gigantic Nghtmre are rare and are always unique to Ultra. Additionally, Ultra Music Festival 2023 in Miami ended with an astonishing drone show that included a QR Code to purchase tickets for Ultra in Miami 2024

Ultra Music Festival 2024 in Miami features tons of exclusive performances including Excision, Madeon B2B San Holo, Afrojack, Masterhand, and many others. The festival will be composed of multiple stage takeovers by record labels like Ophelia Records, Purified Records, and the Dirty Works label. Trivecta, ARMNHMR, Blanke, and Eptic are some artists who will be performing for the first time at UMF 2024 in Miami.

Tickets are still available and they will be selling out very soon! V.I.P. Tickets are already sold out. You can purchase your 3-Day General Admission Tickets at ultramusicfestival.com. The tickets are available for $399.99 + Tax & Fees. Don’t miss out on the fun in the sun at Ultra Music Festival this year! See you there!