Ultra Miami has reportedly been cancelled in March
Commissioner Manolo Reyes is said to have told a local news source “the decision has been made to postpone it”, for anything up to a year
Ultra Music Festival in Miami this March has reportedly been cancelled due to concerns over the spread of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. The festival was set to take place from 20th to 22nd of this month (March).
The event is said to have been postponed, possibly for a year, which would essentially cancel Ultra Miami in 2020. It would be the first time the festival hasn't taken place since it first started in 1999.
The decision to postpone Ultra Miami reportedly came in a meeting this morning (4th March) between Miami’s elected leaders and Ultra representatives.
Following the meeting, Commissioner Manolo Reyes is said to have told the Miami Herald, “The decisions was made to postpone it.”
City officials and Ultra have reportedly not yet officially announced the festival being postponed as they work through legal issues around the decision. It is said they will give an official update this Friday, 6th March.
The news follows a press conference earlier in the day where Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo said they hoped to postpone the festival "to a later date when we'll have a better idea of where we're heading with the coronavirus".
Carollo had previously emphasised the city does not want to cancel the 55,000-per-day-capacity festival, but he said that with attendees flying in from more than 100 countries across the world there are significant dangers that must be considered.
Ultra's Abu Dhabi edition, which was set for this weekend — 5th and 6th March — has already been cancelled amid 'public health concerns'.
It's the latest chapter in a rather problematic relationship between Ultra and its host city. The festival was forced to move to a new site last year following complaints from local residents but secured permission to return to its spiritual home this spring. It then received the threat of a lawsuit from Miami's Downtown Neighbours Alliance. Find out about the environmental and sustainability steps organisers have taken since 2018 in our long-read feature on the future of festivals, according to festivals.
