Each year Miami calls it’s electronic dance music week(s) something different, this year it was Miami Music Week (#MMW or #MMW15). But, it doesn’t matter what they dub it, this time of music worship is anticipated for months leading up to its date (typically the last week in March).
For house music lovers like me, we descend upon Miami looking to soak in the sun and hard-hitting beats. This year, instead of hotel pool parties and nightclubs, everyone was talking about Ultra Music Festival (@Ultra) in Bayfront Park. So, I went. The 3-day festival was packed with over 150,000 people (all wearing neon), multiple stages, and plenty of concessions stands, and portable bathrooms.
That said, going VIP is a game changer and this is why. During the first night my crew and I watched the massive crowd decked in head-to-toe neon get pummeled by pouring rain while we stayed dry in our spacious tent. We drank champagne and danced all night next to the incredible main stage that was packed with tons of gigantic speakers. During the second day, we enjoyed the elevated open-air deck, which had an amazing view of the yachts anchored out in the stunning bay. Trips to the bar were a breeze and the bathrooms were still clean. Although our energy was low during the afternoon of the third day, it was pretty much wash, rinse, and repeat. Having our magical wristbands gave us entry to other less crowded and cleaner areas, and basically made the madness not quite so maddening. Over the course of 3 days we heard sets by world-renown talent such as Avicci, Alesso, Afrojack, Carol Cox, David Guetta, Knife Party and Nicky Romero, Skrillex, and Tiesto. So, it was totally worth it!
Being pleased to have checked Ultra off the bucket list, here are some suggestions for those looking to go in 2016:
- If you’re going to Ultra, stay on the mainland because getting across the bridge can be a nightmare. The Intercontinental is right there and also had a pretty amazing DJ spinning in the lobby late after the festival.
- If you’re staying downtown, try the people-mover for getting around. It has an app, MDT tracker. *the most important thing to figure out are the loops: Inner, Brickell, and Omni.
- If you’re going to use Uber, call far in advance – Ultra pretty much screws the already hellish downtown and Brickell traffic that weekend.
- Bring plenty of cash, I don’t recall anyone accepting credit cards (chime in if I missed this).
- This is a given, but drink lots of water!
Uhntz on Miami…