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Ultra Music Festival responds to “false and misleading” video from Virginia Key officials

The Miami festival isn't taking the defamatory remarks sitting down...

Ultra Music Festival has responded to a “false and misleading” video from Virginia Key officials regarding its proposed relocation from Bayfront Park to Virginia Key

Released on Friday (November 9th) night, the video featured Key Biscayne Mayor-elect Michael Davey making defamatory remarks about the Miami festival.

Davey said, "We don't oppose music festivals. What we oppose is the destruction of the environment in Virginia Key, the obvious risk to one of the most important historic places, the traffic nightmare. This is about holding the city of Miami to the same standards it set for itself when it evicted the festival from Bayfront Park."

Ultra released a statement. It read: “It is deeply regrettable that Mayor-Elect, Mike Davey and the Village of Key Biscayne have elected to publish statements that are knowingly false and misleading rather than to first seek to collaborate with either Ultra representatives or its City of Miami partners (if for no other purpose but to gather accurate facts and to gain an understanding of Ultra’s commitment and obligations respecting, traffic mitigation and environmental and historical preservation planning)."

“By opting to instead circulate what appears to be primarily stock photos (unrelated to Ultra) featuring used needles, polluted shorelines, traffic gridlock, by falsely and intentionally reporting that potentially hundreds of thousands of attendees will be converging on the Rickenbacker Causeway and by falsely stating that City of Miami had purportedly evicted Ultra for environmental destruction, increased alcohol and drug-related violence, safety risks and by reporting other untruths is blatantly disreputable.”

On 15th November, the Miami City Commission will meet to discuss the impasse.

Last week, Ultra revealed the draft agreement for its contentious new location.

In September, the festival confirmed that the flagship event will go ahead and run from 29th March to 1st April.