“After producing the festival over the past 24 years, I can confidently say this was the best all-around ULTRA to date. So many happy people from all walks of life came together to celebrate electronic music like never before in Miami” – Russell Faibisch, Co-Founder, CEO & Executive Producer
Ultra Music Festival concluded its sold-out 23rd edition at the iconic Bayfront Park with one of its most successful renditions to date. The highly coveted festival welcomed thousands of attendees from over 100 countries, and showcased surprise performances from Ice Spice, Laidback Luke, Farruko, Roddy Rich, Audien, GloRilla, and more. Ultra continues to provide the highest caliber of production with a diverse variety of electronic music.
Enjoy an exclusive photo tour provided by Rukes, Alive Coverage and Rudgrcom as well as read the daily highlights, watch the official after movie, look back at our previous coverage of Ultra Music festival 2023 and secure your tickets for the 2024 installment.
Ultra Music Festival 2023 Aftermovie
“It’s an essential one, it’s one to protect.” – Charlotte de Witte on Ultra Music Festival
The festival featured a forward-thinking art program including Drone Stories each evening with 400 drones culminating in the sky above the Main Stage for a stunning visual display. Ultra also included the global festival debut of Daniel Popper’s SENTIENT visual art.
Dance music legend Eric Prydz brought his HOLO performance to Ultra’s RESISTANCE Megagstructure for the very first time. The highly-rare technology-driven show featured state-of-the-art visuals and mind-bending light effects unlike anything else in the world. The fully immersive experience packed the RESISTANCE Megastruture as one of the standout sets of the weekend. Additionally, Eric Prydz joined Adam Beyer under his techno moniker for the debut Ultra of Adam Beyer.
Swedish House Mafia made a triumphant return to Ultra to close out the festival on Main Stage on Sunday. The trio has a special and longstanding history with Ultra hosting some of their most iconic performances ever with their closing sets in 2013 and 2018. Their electrifying performance solidified their stature as one of the most highly sought-after electronic music acts of this generation as they closed the festival on Sunday.
Following his surprise closing set in 2022, Hardwell returned to Ultra’s Main Stage on Saturday to captivate fans with his scintillating and genre-bending sound. The Dutch artist also made a surprise guest appearance for his Revealed takeover on the UMF Radio Stage on Friday.
Ultra Music Festival veteran Carl Cox returned to the RESISTANCE Megastructure to close both Saturday and Sunday. Carl Cox packed the stage with his Hybrid Live set on Saturday night following the world debut at Ultra last year. On Sunday, Carl Cox closed the RESISTANCE Megastructure before heading to his headlining performance for RESISTANCE’s Miami Residency at new nightlife haven M2 for the official Miami Music Week closing party.
Armin van Buuren marked his 11th anniversary with A State of Trance at the Ultra Worldwide Stage on Friday. The Grammy-nominated Dutch producer/DJ has been a fixture at Ultra since his inaugural festival performance back in 2008 and since then has become a staple with his ASOT stage takeover. This year, ASOT welcomed Gareth Emery, Ferry Corsten, Ilan Bluestone, Blastoyz, Ruden de Ronde, and a special back-to-back performance from Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten. Fans could also catch Armin van Buuren on the Main Stage on Saturday for another mesmerizing performance.
Ultra Music Festival’s Main Stage welcomed some of the finest acts in electronic music across all three days. On Friday, Frank Walker kicked off the opening of the festival followed by the debut Ultra performance of Endless Summer from Sam Feldt and Jonas Blue. Next up, DJ Mag’s #1 Alternative DJ Charlotte de Witte transformed the Main Stage into a techno haven with her hard-hitting signature sound. The rest of the evening featured stimulating performances from Gryffin, Afrojack, and a closing performance from Martin Garrix. Additionally, Zedd took the Main Stage and welcomed one of the hottest up-and-coming rappers Ice Spice to perform her song “No Clarity”, which samples Zedd’s classic hit “Clarity”.
Saturday’s lineup on the Main Stage featured a plethora of electronic music heavyweights. The day started off strong with performances from the likes of Syn Cole, Mykris, Fedde le Grand, and Nicky Romero. House music icons Dom Dolla and Vintage Culture performed a unique back-to-back performance on Saturday, followed by Armin van Buuren’s third Ultra set of the weekend following his ASOT takeover on Friday night. Next up, one of the pioneers of modern electronic music Tiësto took the stage for a Main Stage performance that included his iconic 2005 track “Adiago for Strings”. Both Hardwell and Alesso packed the Main Stage for their respective sets and reminded fans of their unwavering talent. Finally, Marshmello closed the Main Stage and welcomed special guests like Farruko, Roddy Rich, and GloRilla for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
In addition to Eric Prydz presents HOLO and Carl Cox’s closing sets, the RESISTANCE Megastructure featured some of the finest house and techno the world has to offer. Friday also featured sets from Melanie Ribbe, Chris Stussy, Ilario Alicante, and the festival debut of Maceo Plex b2b Michael Bibi. The Saturday roster featured a stacked list of b2b’s including Popof x Space 92 Present Turbulences, the world debut of HI-LO b2b Testpilot, and Adam Beyer b2b ︎Cirez D. UK duo Camelphat and Italian techno queen Anfisa Letyago also delivered intoxicating underground performances on Saturday.
The third and final day of the RESISTANCE Megastructure welcomed a range of international underground acts including Brennan Grey, Mathame, Enrico Sangiuliano, a live performance from Stephan Bodzin, and Afterlife leaders Tale of Us ahead of Carl Cox’s festival-closing set.
The Ultra Worldwide programming on Saturday and Sunday included some of the hottest acts in bass and electronic music. On Saturday, fans immersed themselves under the iconic arch for sets from GG Magree, Moore Kismet, Kill The Noise, ISOxo, Deathpact, Malaa, and more. Making their Ultra Music Festival debuts, bass music wizards Liquid Stranger and Subtronics delivered some of the most highly-anticipated sets of the weekend.
The Sunday roster for the Ultra Worldwide Stage included performances from Crankdat, Lucille Croft, YOOKiE, Dimension, Apashe, and Wilkinson. Jauz and SVDDEN Death went back-to-back for the first time ever on the Worldwide stage followed by a captivating closing set from Ganja White Night.
Over on the Live Stage, Ultra Music Festival welcomed a variety of new and returning acts. On Friday, Grimes made her debut Ultra performance followed by scintillating bass music performances from CloZee and REZZ. On Saturday, the festival featured Becky Hill, the first-ever live performance from Kayzo, and Black Tiger Sex Machine. M.I.A took the Ultra stage for the first time since 2014 to close out the Live Stage on Saturday. To close out the weekend, Sunday’s lineup featured performances from William Black, Dabin, as well as NGHTMRE and Big Gigantic as GIGANTIC NGHTMRE. Electronic music tastemakers closed the weekend on a high note with their new Kx5 project for the first time at Ultra.
Boasting a new stage design this year, RESISTANCE’s The Cove Stage hosted three unique showcases each day. On Friday, Nicole Moudaber hosted her IN THE MOOD takeover featuring a special b2b set with Nicole Moudaber and Chris Liebing to close. In addition to her opening set and closing b2b, Moudaber also welcomed Juliet Fox and special b2b sets from Ida Engberg and Maya Jane Coles as well as Luigi Madonna and Roberto Capuano. On Saturday, Joris Voorn hosted a Spectrum takeover with artists such as Franky Wah, Mind Against, and Fideles in addition to Dubfire b2b Kölsch. The Cove stage concluded the weekend with a Dirtybird takeover hosted by Claude VonStroke with performances from label favorites Walker & Royce, VNSSA, Shiba San, Lubelski, and more.
UMF Radio also hosted a trio of stage takeovers over the weekend from Hardwell’s Revealed, Afrojack’s JACKED, and the return of Coone’s Dirty Workz following the inaugural takeover in 2022. In addition to the surprise Hardwell performance, the Revealed takeover hosted Dada Life, Joel Corry, Dr Phunk, Jeffery Sutorius, Maddix, and more. On Saturday, JACKED hosted sets from DubVision, Mike Williams, Lucas & Steve, and a special throwback set from Afrojack as Nick van de Wall. The Dirty Workz takeover on Sunday represented the hardstyle genre with heavy-hitting sets from Lil Texas, Warface, Darren Styles, Sub Zero Project, and more.
Millions of Ultranauts from around the world experienced the festival’s magic virtually by tuning into the #ULTRALIVE stream. The stream reached a staggering 42,000,000 global views across the weekend.
Ultra Music Festival’s sustainability program Mission:Home followed its successful year with a bevy of environmentally conscious initiatives at this year’s festival at Bayfront Park.
Over the past year, Mission:Home received a variety of awards from The Florida Festivals and Events Association, was named the “most extensive sustainability program across leading U.S. electronic music festivals” by Miami-based non-profit Debris Free Oceans, and has ultimately helped Ultra become the first festival of its scale in the U.S. to be verified by international NGO Oceanic Global’s Blue Standard program.
At Ultra Music Festival 2023, Mission:Home brought back Clean Vibes to keep the grounds clean and achieve 100% recycling acceptance for the 3rd year in a row; continued to keep food service wares plastic free; brought back Biscayne Bay protections and education opportunities at the festival’s Eco Village; and continued to grow food and material rescue initiatives to donate more resources back to the community.
Following three banner years in Ibiza, Ultra launched RESISTANCE’s inaugural U.S. club residency at the rejuvenated M2 Miami club in South Beach. Ultra’s esteemed underground house and techno brand RESISTANCE filled out the club’s two floors and 35,000 square footage with stacked bookings across four sold-out nights, featuring headlining performances from Adam Beyer (who kicked off the residency), Sasha_John Digweed, Charlotte de Witte, and Carl Cox (who finished off the weekend with the Official MMW Closing Party).
Following the Miami Music Week launch of the U.S. club residency, RESISTANCE will host various Race Week events at M2 from Friday, May 5 through Sunday, May 7, 2023.
In the fall, RESISTANCE will continue its Season 1 programming at M2 with weekly Saturday parties, kicking off Halloween weekend on Saturday, October 28and running through the Closing Party on Saturday, May 11, 2024.
Following the closing of the 2023 event, Ultra Music Festival revealed the dates for the 24th edition in 2024 slated for March 22 – 24, 2024. Tickets are available to purchase now.
