After having their Bayfront park contract terminated and having to move to Virginia Key for the 2019 iteration, Miami now want them back.
In an upcoming Miami City Commission Meeting (scheduled for June 27), the proposed agenda includes a contract for Ultra Music Festival to return to Bayfront Park.
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.
After stating they would not return to Virginia Key, Ultra has been courted heavily by Homestead-Miami Speedway, which last month successfully petitioned to extend its operational hours until 2am to accommodate the festival. But now, the City of Miami wants Ultra back at Bayfront Park, as evidenced by the resolution item shown below.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has been quoted saying Ultra Music Festival represents “hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact” for Miami every year. Hundreds of millions of dollars that have the potential to go somewhere else if the city kept acting so frequently hostile toward the major festival. “I was always a long-term supporter of Ultra as commissioner because I really felt that it went to the brand of the city,” Suarez said, acknowledging that changes would have had to be made if the festival stayed in Miami. “We had the attention of the world during that week similarly to Basel during Art Basel week for the arts community.” Commissioner Manolo Reyes has said, “We can not be running businesses out of the City of Miami. Hialeah wants it. Homestead wants it. Everybody wants it. That’s why I want to know what happened.”
What does the new contract mean?
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.
