Guess who’s back…back again…

Just when the public opinion about Ultra Miami 2020 was turning into concern, Miami came crawling back. The latest agenda for the Miami City Commission Meeting (scheduled for June 27) includes a contract for Ultra Music Festival to return to Bayfront Park. The agenda just dropped Tuesday evening.

The Resolution allows the City Manager of Miami to present a formal offer to Ultra for the return to Bayfront Park via a revocable license (like what they had at Virginia Key). There is not yet a deal reached, but Miami is going to propose one.

Miami felt the burn after Ultra announced its intentions to leave the City. Miami initially pushed Ultra out of its Bayfront Park home and aimed to place it at Virginia Key. The move proved exceedingly difficult and did little to settle down neighboring communities. When Ultra shared its infamous “break up letter”, other municipalities hyped up the idea of Ultra moving to new places. Then Miami felt pangs of regret and formulated a plan to prevent Ultra’s exodus. Here it is.

The resolution is more of an opening salvo, slim on details but heavy on importance. The resolution highlights Ultra’s history there and the huge financial impact the festival has had on the City. It also proposes essentially that the previous revocable license for Virginia Key be swapped for one at Bayfront Park.

Proposed Plan Highlights

Ultra reverts back to midnight closing time on Friday/Sat and 11PM on Sunday. The fee remains at $2million as it was last year, but a big change is how long the park will be closed. The entire property can only be closed to the public for 14 days. The entire build-up/festival/tear-down can only take 30 days TOTAL. This is because the local citizens want the park available for their use more often and complained about Ultra’s impact on that previously. The capacity is 55,000 per day but can be increased subject to reasonable discretion.

This deal is also indefinite like the previous deal for Virginia Key, with 1-year renewals. Generally, the rest of the finer points are carryovers from the Virginia Key deal. This deal has to be voted on at the June 27th City Commission Meeting, so you can be sure we’ll all be watching! It’s still not a done deal by any means, and Homestead is waiting in the wings as well. You can read the full resolution and license deal below.