After one of the best editions in festival history, Ultra Music Festival and the City of Miami have agreed on a new twenty year contract. This keeps the flagship electronic dance music festival in downtown Miami until 2046, with check-ins every 5 years during the length of said contract. 

Founded in 1999, Ultra Music Festival started as a small beachside concert with a single stage. Fast forward to 2026, and the festival takes up the entirety of Bayfront Park with 7 stages to choose from, each with their own music theme. Each year the festival brings some of the biggest names in the EDM scene to Miami, including Hardwell, Armin Van Buuren, MartinGarrix, Alesso, and Maddix to name a few.

The Ultra Miami 2026 Mainstage | Source: Miami Herald 

Each stage at Ultra showcases a specific theme or genre of music, with the RESISTANCE MegaStructure hosting mainly techno acts for example. The WorldWide stage usually hosts the A State of Trance takeover, along with Dubstep and some Hardstyle acts as of 2026. The star of the show, however, is the mainstage, which features the biggest names in dance music, like the aforementioned artists. 

In the new contract, a welcome addition is afoot. In previous years, Ultra has been marred with delays and early closures due to heavy rain and borderline hurricane weather. In the new contract, the park director and city manager can extend day one or day two by up to one hour in the event of a delay caused by said weather. This is a welcome change in the contract, as Ultra has been subject to fines in the last couple of years due to going overtime. 

Festivalgoers enjoy the mainstage from a distance at Ultra Miami 2026 | Source: Yahoo! News 

The new agreement allows Ultra to continue using Bayfront Park for their flagship event every year, as the festival keeps bringing big name acts to downtown Miami. Ultra Miami 2027 will take place March 26th through the 28th, and will be streamed on the official UMF TV YouTube channel. Until then, Ultra has their event in Europe coming up in July, so keep an eye out for information regarding that event. 

Are you looking forward to Ultra’s upcoming events? Are there any other festivals you are excited about? Let me know in the comments!