After a female security guard was brutally trampled during this year’s Ultra music festival. Miami officials consider banning the event from their city.
Ultra, the EDM festival world-renowned for its unparalleled energy from dropped beats and suspect substances and its daisy-loving, color-clashing crowds, may have just had its last showing in Miami. According to CBS Miami, the city commissioner and mayor are both resolving to push the festival out of their tropical locale next year and, potentially, for good. Being a musical omnivore, I am alarmed and shocked to hear that I may never be in the presence of Kaskade. More still, I am taken back by the issues that have led the officials to make this decision: a potential death, nearly one hundred rescues, and a mysterious confirmed death.
The majority of the legal crowd, totaling thousands of attendees with over $30 million in ticket sales, was blessed with a show featuring Tiesto, Afrojack, M.I.A., MGMT, and others. Avicii was not in attendance this year due to illness, but the show must and did go on. Twenty-two music-lovers were removed from the crowd by fire engines on Friday, and another fifty-five on Saturday, primarily due to dance injuries and drug overdoses. However, these individuals were lucky in comparison to the female security guard who is currently suffering severe brain hemorrhaging due to being trampled when a crowd forced their way into the show, securing the woman under the weight of the destroyed fence as they made their way in.
Nevertheless, the international presence of the festival in such countries as Japan, South Africa, and Germany is still profound, so its presence will surely meet eager acceptance from another U.S. community with an electric appetite. If Ultra’s 2014 general ticket cost of $400—non-inclusive of transportation, apparel, and shelter—is not inhibiting enough, a new location will surely only showcase the loyalty of its fans who will be sure to follow. Or will they? There is only one way to tell, but Miami is not hesitant in making that shift.
Twenty-two music-lovers were removed from the crowd by fire engines on Friday, and another 55 on Saturday.
It is quite likely that Rollins’ presence at Ultra 2015 is going to be impacted if the event moves out of state, but no decision has been definitively made. However, if Orlando were to take on the event, similar to the Electric Daisy Carnival it has hosted, Rollins’ Ultra attendance will definitely spike. Regardless of its next destination, the show will be leaving an unforgettable stream of premature deafness, neon body paint, and crafty crop-tops in its wake for us to follow.
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