Swedish DJ/producer Alesso performing on Sunday afternoon.
Last weekend, we had the pleasure of heading to sunny Miami to attend the famed Ultra Music Festival, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2013. Over 150,000 electronic music fans from all around the world joined together to partake in the most massive dance party on the planet, and we'll admit: we had the time of our lives.
This is the first year that Ultra is taking place over two weekends — both of which completely sold out! — and the festival organizers took great care to ensure that every inch of the grounds was a feast for the senses. From the time we entered the gates at Miami's Bayfront Park on Friday evening, we were a little overwhelmed — with seven themed stages, including the state-of-the-art, intelligently lit Main Stage and a tented "Megastructure" with an LED ceiling, it's no wonder we could feel the bass reverberating in our chests from five blocks away.
For three days, we ran from stage to stage in an attempt to catch all of our favorite acts, a nearly impossible feat with well over 100 artists and DJs on the bill. Our Friday night highlight was watching the first of Swedish House Mafia's two final performances as a group, accented with impressive pyrotechnics and a few emotional sing-alongs. On Saturday, we kicked back at the Live Stage for a soulful performance by Pretty Lights, then headed over to Main Stage for the melodic sounds of Kaskade. We ended the night by watching the much-hyped return of Deadmau5, who designed a stage show exclusively for the festival, and brought his infamous LED "cube" out of retirement for the special occasion.
We thought we'd be able to catch our breath on Sunday, but we were very wrong — the schedule read like a Who's Who of the electronic music world, and we were able to hear some hard-hitting sets from superstars like Alesso, Zedd, Major Lazer, Avicii, Eric Prydz, and Calvin Harris. We left feeling equal parts exhilarated and exhausted, and although we kind of never want to see a neon tank top again, we'd do it all over in a heartbeat.
Needless to say, we were bummed to leave the beats (and the sunshine) to return to NYC, but here's the good news: The party continues this Friday through Sunday, and Ultra just announced that a limited amount of tickets will be released this Wednesday, March 20. If you'll be in Miami or the surrounding area, we urge you to check it out. Trust us — and our very, very tired dancing feet — this is a production that you don't want to miss.
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