Despite the fact of one Miami’s city commissioners was attempting to prove that Ultra Music Festival gives the city a “bad name”, the electronic music festival will return to downtown Miami for 2015.
During this week’s meeting, commissioner Marc Sarnoff had presented a video of an intoxicated festivalgoer who was gyrating and kissing a palm tree. Along with the video, Sarnoff displayed photos of two partly clothed women snorting a white powder, as well as a photo of a different women hiking up her skirt will standing over what seemed to be an unconscious man.
Mayor Tomás Regalado is also opposed to hosting the festival in downtown Miami. “Residents complain they are prisoners in their own homes for three days,” said Regalado. He claims that residents are harassed “by young people who want to be friendly in excess.”
While Sarnoff and Regalado are opposed to the electronic dance festival, the rest of the commission largely backs the event, calming Ultra to be a major economic drive for the city that provides positive worldwide exposure, despite negative incidents.
Referring to the video of the intoxicated women kissing a tree, commissioner Keon Hardemon expressed, “There are people who have sex with worse things than trees.” The commissioner also stated, “I’ve never met a person who moved downtown for peace and quite.”
Ultra organizers responded to the news via Facebook.
“We are pleased with today’s decision by the City of Miami Commission to continue our long-standing tradition of producing the Ultra Music Festival in downtown Miami. We are also extremely happy for our fans from around the world who love coming to Miami to be part of Ultra. The setting for the event in downtown Miami is part of what makes the event magical. We appreciate the commission for their vote today.
We will continue to work closely with the City of Miami, the Bayfront Park Management Trust, City of Miami Police Department and other municipal partners, small business owners and the local downtown community to ensure next year’s event is a safe and fun environment for concertgoers and Miami residents. We are pleased to continue our ongoing practice of assessing and implementing improved security measures as well as any recommendations from our ongoing security review being led by our new Director of Security, Police Chief Ray Martinez.
As a Miami-based company, creating jobs and attracting tourism to South Florida, we are privileged to create over 1,800 direct jobs in our community and bring over $80 million in economic impact to our local economy. We are optimistic about the future and creating more opportunities to grow and strengthen Miami for all.”
The attempt to ban Ultra stems from numerous events from years past, including the collapse of a gate that sent security guard Erika Mack to the hospital after being trampled. Promoters of the festival have agreed to an increase of security, secured fencing, a “substance abuse station,” and increased contact between festival security and the chief of police.
Know as North America’s second largest electronic music festival, Ultra Music Festival is an annual outdoor three-day festival that brings Miami over 150,000 visitors a year.
