Ultra Miami 2024: 10 facts you did not know about the festival

Ultra Music Festival Miami has become a globally recognized festival for its music and the entire experience it has to offer. From Colonel Sanders performing in 2019 to hundreds of artists debuting new music for the very first time, here are 10 facts you did not know about Ultra Music Festival.

Becoming one of the world’s most iconic electronic music festivals, Ultra Music Festival at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami is truly a one-of-a-kind experience for attendees and artists alike. Ultra Music Festival will welcome over 100 acts from around the globe to celebrate the festival’s 24th edition. Are you excited about the upcoming festival? I know we are and what better way to celebrate than to discover 10 facts about Ultra Music Festival below?

The first Ultra festival in 1999 featured only eight DJs on two stages and had over 10,000 attendees. 

The first Ultra Music Festival was hosted in Miami Beach. Founders Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes created the one-day event in the aim to highlight both DJs and performers. Growing rapidly, Ultra Music Festival is now a three-day festival and includes hundreds of top-tier artists while also hosting several clubs and events throughout the week.

Ultra 2023 had an attendance of roughly 165,000 people.

Since 1999, Ultra Music Festival has grown substantially over the years. From 10,000 people in 2000 to 93,000 people in 2010, the popularity and growth are no surprise to this iconic festival. Last year, the festival returned to Bayfront Park, Downtown Miami with an attendance of 165,000 people.

Fisher & Chris Lake bring “Under Construction” to mainstage for the first time

Fisher and Chris Lake are bringing their big “Under Construction” show to the main stage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami for the very first time. This is a huge deal! They have put on this massive “Under Construction” show before, like when they took over Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles in 2023 and had tens of thousands of people come see their performance. But now they get to do it at one of the biggest music festivals in the world – Ultra Miami. Fisher and Chris Lake play Tech House music that gets crowds super hyped up and energetic. Having their “Under Construction” show at Ultra is going to be an amazing, memorable experience for everyone at the festival. People are really excited to see what crazy things Fisher and Chris Lake have planned! They close the Ultra Miami mainstage on Friday.

Calvin Harris will close the Ultra Miami 2024 mainstage.

Calvin Harris recently revealed his intention to quit DJing within the next 10 years. In a recent interview with UK radio station Capital Dance, Harris expressed that he sees himself stepping away from live DJ performances once he surpasses the age of 50. So, this might be one of the last few performances of Calvin Harris at Ultra Miami.

Madeon & San Holo go b2b at Ultra Miami

Madeon and San Holo are going to perform together at the Live Stage on Saturday. This is a big deal because they’ve only done this once before at a festival in China in November 2023, and that show was a huge success that got fans really excited. Check out their last b2b live performance in China here.

Ultra Music Festival Wins Top Sustainability Award

Ultra Music Festival has been recognized as a global leader in sustainability by winning the prestigious Sustainability Team Award at the World Sustainability Awards. The festival’s “Mission: Home” program, run by a diverse team of four women, has achieved remarkable feats in waste reduction, pollution prevention, nature preservation, community engagement, and climate action through cross-functional collaboration with internal teams, external vendors, event staff, community partners, and attendee education. Highlights include diverting over 184,000 pounds of waste from landfills, recycling over 81,000 pounds of aluminum and plastic regionally, eliminating nearly 90% of single-use plastics, donating nearly 40,000 pounds of resources to local communities, providing free water refill stations to eliminate over 605,000 plastic water bottles, and reaching over 6.5 million followers globally with sustainability messaging.

In 2019, Colonel Sanders performed on the main stage.

In 2019, A DJ wearing an oversized helmet with KFC’s well-known mascot Colonel Sanders face took the stage on the opening day and jammed out with the crowd. Did that make the crowd hungry at all? Maybe not however the energy was undeniably contagious from start to finish.

Ultra Music Festival has been declared the winner of the “Best Music Event” by the International Dance Music Awards six times in a row. 

From showcasing a wide array of genres including trap, bass, house, techno, rock, hip-hop, and more, it only makes sense the world-class festival deserves praise and recognition.

A new stage area known as Resistance was introduced in 2015

Ultra is known for presenting uniquely curated back-to-back performances, and the RESISTANCE 2023 lineup is brimming with inaugural back-to-back sets; festival favorites Adam Beyer and Eric Prydz will showcase their techno prowess as Adam Beyer and Cirez D for the first time ever at Ultra, while Swedish techno icon Ida Engberg and celebrated underground force Maya Jane Coles similarly make their b2b festival debut.

Image Credit: Rukes.com