Ultra Miami 2023: the ultimate start to the festival season [Event Review]

Ultra Miami 2023 concluded as one of the festival’s biggest and best editions in its long-running history, with performances from the likes of Swedish House Mafia, HI-LO b2b Testpilot, Eric Prydz HOLO and many more standout sets across the three days.

Another edition of Ultra Miami has come and gone like a whirlwind, giving us hardly enough time to catch our breath between all the jam-packed action that the three days gave us. From world debuts of special B2B performances to epic closing sets on the mainstage and much, much more, We Rave You was there to witness all of the action out at Bayfront Park. Whilst Ultra 2024 may already be on sale (more on that later) and there’s still plenty of Ultra editions around the world to come this year, we’re still reminiscing over what a spectacle Ultra Miami 2023 truly was.

Day One

Not ones to ramp up the energy at a slow pace, Ultra Miami 2023 had the tone set for the rest of the weekend from the second that the gates opened to eager partygoers. With the electrifying atmosphere already set from the first glimpse of the stage build and the iconic view which surrounds them of Downtown Miami, it’s hard not to get giddy as soon as your feet touch the sacred grounds.

Friday had a lot for Ultra-goers to be excited about within all corners of Bayfront Park, with one of the biggest highlights being Eric Prydz. Although he’s given Ultra many show-stopping sets over its 23-year history, it was at Ultra 2023 where he performed perhaps his biggest set at the festival yet, bringing his famed HOLO concept to the RESISTANCE Megastructure for the first time ever and also kicking off the audiovisual’s 2023 season as the first performance of the year. Speaking of techno, it also had a monumental moment on the mainstage with Charlotte de Witte marking a massive debut on the famed stage, a big moment not only for her but for the genre as a whole. Not only this, the Revealed Recordings stage saw the label boss himself Hardwell take to the stage for a surprise performance, where over on the mainstage Zedd brought out upcoming rapper Ice Spice for a vocal performance of ‘No Clarity,’ which samples his iconic hit ‘Clarity.’ Rounding it all off with an ID-filled closing set from Martin Garrix, and it was safe to say that Ultra 2023 got off to the most explosive start possible.

Day 2

 

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Although it might have been hard to top day one, Ultra had no problem in doing this with ease, and on the lineup for Saturday came some of the biggest acts one after each other on the mainstage. Only at a place like Ultra 2023 would you find a lineup such as Armin van Buuren, Tiësto, Hardwell and Alesso all following each other, with a closing set by Marshmello who brought out Farruko, Roddy Rich, and GloRilla. Over on the techno side, the RESISTANCE Megastructure also kept the action going, with sets from HI-LO b2b Testpilot (Oliver Heldens and deadmau5), Camelphat, Adam Beyer & Cirez D and the first of two closing sets of the weekend from Carl Cox. It didn’t stop there either, with Kayzo performing his first-ever UNLEASHED XL live show on the Live Stage, and Subtronics making his Ultra debut as the Saturday headliner of the Worldwide Stage. Over on RESISTANCE’s second stage The Cove – a new edition for this year – Joris Voorn presented his very own stage takeover, and speaking of stage takeovers, Afrojack presented Jacked Radio which featured an extra special Nick van de Wall throwback set.

“After producing the festival over the past 24 years, I can confidently say this was the best all-around ULTRA to date. So many happy people from all walks of life came together to celebrate electronic music like never before in Miami” – Russell Faibisch, Co-Founder, CEO & Executive Producer

Day 3

Already, the third and final day came around like a whirlwind, and in the air hung the anticipation for Swedish House Mafia’s mainstage closing set, their first one in five years since they marked their official return in 2018 with their closing set on the very same slot. Between the trio and the other stages though, fans had to make a very tough decision between ending their weekend with the Swedes or the likes of Carl Cox, Kx5 (who marked their Ultra debut), or Lil Texas for those that love the harder, faster style of electronic music. Rewinding to earlier in the day though, David Guetta marked a milestone performance as the second to last closing act of the weekend, whereas on the other side of the musical spectrum Jauz and SVDDEN DEATH performed B2B for the very first time, marking down another world debut for Ultra 2023.

Aside from the weekend’s music program, Ultra 2023 focused a lot on elevating the experience to the next level with its art. Featuring the global festival debut of Daniel Popper‘s eye-catching sculpture SENTIENT, the mainstage also displayed Drone Stories, 400 drones in the night sky which flew together to create art, making for a stunning visual display. Being another sold-out edition, the livestream of the weekend’s festivities also reached upwards of 42 million people globally. Mission:Home was also out in full force, as they brought back Clean Vibes to keep the grounds clean and achieve 100% recycling acceptance for the 3rd year in a row; continued to keep food service wares plastic free; brought back Biscayne Bay protections and education opportunities at the festival’s Eco Village; and continued to grow food and material rescue initiatives to donate more resources back to the community.

With all this said, Ultra once again cemented its status as one of the most in-demand festivals around the world, and are already looking towards 2024 to replicate the success. Tickets for Ultra 2024, March 22-24, are already on sale, and you can purchase them here. See you there!

 

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Featured image credit: Alive Coverage / provided by Ultra PR