Ultra Music Festival

Ultra Ravers Boost Miami Tourism, Pack Hotels Through March at $238.12 Per Night

South Floridians owe beat freaks and frat boys a drink. Fueled almost entirely by Red Bull, Molly, and (presumably) a little bit of cocaine, sunburned college students from the Midwest, foreign ravers, and Ultra Music Festival organizers rallied to resurrect South Florida's economy in March. See a ... More >>

50 WTF Quotes From Ultra 2013

"What the fuck does unicorn taste like?" Stardust. Rainbows. Maybe black-market horse meat from Miami's C-9 basin. There's really no way to know, though. Because this fabulous one-horned equine creature doesn't actually exist. Except when you're raving, raging, and tripping out at Ultra Music Fest ... More >>

Ultra 2013: Ten Hours Trapped at the Trapped Stage With Flosstradamus, Baauer, UZ

Something really weird happened. We were walking into Ultra Music Festival, and just as we came around a corner, we saw a giant boombox blasting 808s and emitting smoke. We got closer to see what was up. Turns out, it was the UMF Radio stage, but it was overrun with hip-hop electro fusion. When we ... More >>

Ultra 2013: 11 Best Nipple Pasties

Bras, ugh. They're so constrictive! It's no surprise that women often unclasp around the house, opting to let their ladies breathe and bounce freely, just the way evolutionary science intended. But in public, breasts are typically confined to two cups, held up by a couple of straps and an elastic ... More >>

Top Ten Twerking, Sexy Dancing Ravers at Ultra 2013 in Animated GIF!

Getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha freak on! We all know that there are lots of ways to become immortalized at a massive outdoor music gathering like Ultra Music Festival. Say, humping a tree. Or dancing naked while getting arrested. But yo' momma would probably prefer if you lived forever amon ... More >>

Daft Punk at Ultra 2013: Five Signs the Robots Are Coming to UMF!

What are the odds of electro-mechanical machines (manufactured in France) descending upon Ultra Music Festival 2013 to enslave the EDM generation? We'd say the chances of a sudden and unsuspected robot invasion at UMF probably hover around 13 percent. Oh ... You mean the likelihood of notoriously ... More >>

Ultra 2013: Ten Best Butts

The status quo, namely the prudish American population's stance on public nudity, has never favored the exhibitionist. At Ultra Music Festival, however, the status quo is tossed out the beat-freaking window, along with its attendees' sense of shame. And while it may seem that the men were wearin ... More >>

Ultra 2013: Top Six WTF Moments from Weekend One

It began Friday afternoon, just as the happy-hour crowd realized that something was different about its typical Metrorail commute. En route to downtown Miami, kandi kids in furry boots, nipple pasties, and CamelBak packs had overtaken the train. Ultra Music Festival was officially underway, but t ... More >>

Naked Dancing Dude Gets Arrested at Ultra Music Festival 2013 (NSFW VIDEO)

Let's get fucking weird. Indeed, that's among the Beat Freak Generation's fave mottos. But sometimes shit can get so weird that you end up praying face-down in a public park, slapping your own ass, and bounding around to a sweet beat while the cops slowly encircle your nude uhntz-uhntz-ing self. ... More >>

Five Raddest Stage Setups at Ultra 2013

There's so much bass and lasers pumping through downtown Miami, it might break off the mainland and becom a new, free-floating island. That's thanks to the millions upon millions of dollars that have gone into insuring that Ultra Music Festival 2013 is the most aggressively technological production ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival, Winter Music Conference, and Miami Music Week 2013

Ultra 2013: "Free, Festival-Wide Wi-Fi!!!"

If, like Crossfade, you've ever tried to tweetcast a trip to the Port-a-Potty while waiting all weekend in line to take a pee at Ultra Music Festival ... Or attempted YouTube-ing a video of some guy making out with a pile of trash behind the dubstep tent ... Or even tried frantically emailing mom ... More >>

Carl Cox and Friends Return to Ultra Music Festival With Mesmerizing "Mega-Structure"

Ultra is more than an annual music festival. It's an EDM institution. Just like British house legend Carl Cox. Every year at UMF, the Carl Cox and Friends arena (which has been with the fest for its entire 15-year history) gets bigger, better, and brighter. But it doesn't only exist in Miami. It al ... More >>

Disclosure Talks Ultra Fest Debut: "Bigger Production, Light Show, We Are Very Excited!"

UK production duo Disclosure is a definite contender for biggest EDM success story of the new decade. There's the matter of the pair's precociousness: wunderkind brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence started releasing music when they were only 15 and 18 years old. And what music! Their chops in the stud ... More >>

Tommie Sunshine Says America's Youth Needs EDM: "It's Keeping Them Alive"

We hereby nominate Tommie Sunshine for PLUR President. He seems to be the most positive, well-intentioned person on the planet. But for all his posi vibes, he's not afraid to stand up and fight. When Ultra Music Festival's two-weekend 2013 party plan came under fire from the City of Miami commissio ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival 2013 Phase 2 Lineup: Alesso, Eric Prydz, Snoop Dogg, Tons More

Just when you thought the party couldn't get any better, Ultra Music Festival has announced its Phase 2 lineup. So let's not bother with the formalities. Here's who's been added: Alesso, Benny Benassi, Dirty South, Dog Blood (Boys Noize & Skrillex), Eric Prydz, Fedde Le Grand, Hardwell, Loco D ... More >>

Ultra 2013: Organizers Willing to Work With City on Downtown Traffic, Security Concerns

Marc Sarnoff still hasn't returned repeated calls to Crossfade about his anti-Ultra Music Festival stance. But considering Tommie Sunshine's push to get EDM fans to call and email him, we're pretty sure he's been busy the last for the last few 24 hours. However, we do finally have a response for U ... More >>

Araabmuzik at Mansion Miami November 16

M83 Finally Makes Proper Miami Debut at Fillmore Miami Beach, September 26

M83 Wednesday, September 26 Fillmore Miami Beach Better Than: Dreaming ... IRL. A "nightmare" is the word Anthony Gonzalez used last night at the Fillmore Miami Beach to describe M83's disastrous appearance at Ultra Music Festival in March. But if Ultra was a nightmare, than the band's performance ... More >>

The Ultimate Bikini Bash

The Seven Ravers You Meet at Ultra Music Festival

​Woah, wait a minute. What happened this weekend? We thought we were in Miami. But as soon as we crossed over Biscayne Boulevard we found ourselves in the middle of EDM insanity. We were surrounded by thousands of colorful, crazy-eyed people-creatures. Some of them had furry ears and tails, some ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival: Here's a Girl Having a Full-Blown Romance With a Tree, UPDATED With New Angle and Bonus Naked Dude

​There are so many beautiful moments in this YouTube video of a girl making out with and humping a tree at Ultra Music Festival. Our favorite comes at the 1:40 mark, when she sassily slaps it and tells it to shut up before hurling her body at the tree. What did the tree say, girl?And tree, cherish ... More >>

Bassnectar at Ultra Music Festival 2012: A 15-Photo Recap

​Bassnectar is the sound of a thousand meteors crashing into Earth. On the last night of the fest, his heavy metal/electronic alchemy destroyed Ultra Music Festival 2012's Live Stage as 6,500 beat freaks raved, raged, and howled. His hourlong set ripped through more genres, samples, and live eff ... More >>

Deadmau5 to Madonna: "Fuck Off, You Fucking Idiot"

​Read Crossfade's post about Madonna's Ultra Music Festival 2012 and watch the full six-minute and 52-second clip of Madonna's Ultra appearance. Uh-oh, Deadmau5 is pissed off again. The last time he unleashed his fury on Ultra Music Festival in a 12-minute YouTube rant, slamming the electronic ... More >>

Winter Music Conference, Ultra Music Festival, and Miami Music Week expand to nine days for 2012

Ultra Music Festival Boat Party Cruise With Pukka Up on March 21

​Ultra Music Festival, much like the Universe itself, is constantly expanding. Over the past 14 years, what started as a one-day party on Miami Beach has morphed into a huge corporate monster with a million heads. Rather than one day of debauchery, you get three days, plus an UMF concert document ... More >>

Miike Snow Bringing New Album, Happy to You, to Ultra Music Festival

​Attention party animals! Sweden's Miike Snow will be breaking it down at Ultra Music Festival, and you don't wanna be caught slippin'. No, Miike Snow is not a man. It's a group of electro-pop producers -- Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, and Andrew Wyatt -- that's created some of the biggest ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival 2012 Announces Phase 2 Lineup With 144 New Beat-Freaking Acts

​Check out Ultra Music Festival 2012's Phase 1 lineup. There are only five weeks left till epic levels of uhntz-uhntz turn Downtown Miami into a 150,000-person public orgy! Back in December, Ultra Music Festival announced its initial 92-act roster. And just 14 days later, the fest "completely s ... More >>

Win Free Ultra Music Festival 2012 Tickets by Entering Miami Music Week Sweepstakes

​Exactly 14 days ago, Ultra Music Festival 2012 sold out. And the wailing of sad, ticketless beat freaks could be heard in dark, lonely nightclubs all around the globe. But then the fest offered its oh-so-disappointed children some consolation, announcing a whole series of official Miami Music We ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival 2012 Sold Out With 73 Days Until Start

​That's it, folks! According to its website, Ultra Music Festival 2012 is officially sold out with 73 days remaining until the first day of the festival. This breaks last year's record, when tix sold out on February 18 with a full 34 days left before the fest.Of course, Ultra's 2012 lineup, feat ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival 2012 Announces Lineup: Avicii, Tiësto, David Guetta, and 89 Others

Avicii: Ultra 2012's Saturday night headliner.​Big news, beat freaks. After months of teases, hype, and promises that it "will be bigger than last year," there's finally been a major development in the ongoing saga of Ultra Music Festival's 2012 lineup. Of course, we here at Crossfade have spe ... More >>

New Order to Perform at Ultra Music Festival 2012

New Order​Our sources at Ultra Music Festival have leaked some big news, telling us that an appearance by New Wave icons New Order at this year's festival has been confirmed. The band, of course, is best known for hits like "Blue Monday," "Age of Consent," and "Bizarre Love Triangle," all of whic ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival's Russell Faibisch on WMC: There Was Never a Rift With Conference

Via Ultra Music Festival's Flickr​Almost exactly one year ago, Ultra Music Festival and Winter Music Conference suffered a "deeply complicated and very public breakup" after 13 years of peaceful, symbiotic coexistence. A few months later, just before Ultra 2011, we asked the fest's cofounder and ... More >>

Cut Copy Performing Live at Grand Central September 30

Photo by Timothy SaccentiCut Copy​While Australian electro-rockers Cut Copy technically "kicked off" the tour for their latest album, Zonoscope, at this year's Ultra Music Festival, rest assured they are coming back to give Miami a proper show in a non-festival setting. On September 30, the band r ... More >>

Tune into Riotgear's Mocean District Radio Show Today With Guest H.O.S.H.

Diynamic Label's H.O.S.H.​If you're deep into the South Florida EDM scene, then you've probably heard of Riotgear, the DJ duo of Andy Pate and Bobby Bassett. And you definitely heard them if you went to Ultra Music Festival last month, where they rocked the main stage. What you may not know is ... More >>

Macho, Macho Fan

Ultra Bingo: Glowsticks

​OMFG, the Ultra Music Festival grounds are littered with glowsticks. There are red ones, blue ones, green ones, bright ones, dull ones, dead ones, smashed ones, fat ones, skinny ones, short ones, long ones, and some you don't even want to touch for fear of dibutyl phthalate contamination and STDs ... More >>

Ten Signs You Might Have Woken Up at Ultra Music Festival

​Sure, Ultra Music Festival's a good time. But if you aren't careful, it can get the better of you. Greater men (and ladies) than you have fallen waste to the onslaught of this three day electro extravaganza. So there's a decent chance that you might have, in the midst of your merrymaking, gone ... More >>

Tweetcasting a Trip to the Port-a-Potty at Ultra Music Festival 2011

​One of the quintessential Ultra Music Festival experiences that rarely gets any press is the average attendee's trip to the port-a-potty. Well, I was waiting in line last night at 10:14 p.m. trying not to piss my pants and thought, "Somebody's gotta document it. Why not me?" But whipping out my ... More >>

Crossfade's Ultra Fest Chat With Simian Mobile Disco

​If you've only ever heard debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release, you might think otherwise. But Simian Mobile Disco was never just a killer indie-dance crew. Sophomore record Temporary Pleasure had its fair share thudding, tech-y moments, not the least on sparkling, climactic "10,000 Horses ... More >>

Ultra Bingo: Deadmau5 Head

​Late last night, just as midnight hit and the Ultra Music Festival's Main Stage MC was breaking up the party, we saw an enormous creature pop out of a hole in the ground. We were like, "WTF?" And then we took a closer look ... It was actually a human human being in a homemade Deadmau5 head w ... More >>

Ultra Bingo: Non-Relevant '80s Band

​Holy crap, how could we forget? The non-relevant '80s band! Of course, this particular Ultra Bingo square was explicitly concocted in honor of Duran Duran. Just look closely and you'll see that the illustration is actually the cover of 1983's multi-platinum Rio. But when we were at Ultra Music ... More >>

Ultra Music Festival 2011 is more diverse than ever

Underworld's Karl Hyde talks Frankenstein, Kubrick, and the Ultra Music Festival

​Underworld, the UK-based electronic duo of Rick Smith and Karl Hyde, has been the vehicle for an audio-video conflux that rose to prominence from the post-acid house scene of the '90s, and really hit the public consciousness after the song "Born Sippy .NUXX" was used to great effect in Danny Boyl ... More >>

Miami Music Guide and Party Listings for Ultra Music Festival 2011

​The Ultra Music Festival isn't just a concert. It's now a week-long electronic and alternative musical free-for-all featuring the world's best talent and over 150,000 fans. Sure, the big show is sold out. But in the Miami nightlife universe, the many satellite parties orbiting the main event may ... More >>

Study Claims Ecstasy Doesn't Damage Brain (No Wonder Ultra Sold Out)

Photo by Ivon David RojasA reveler at Ultra Music Festival. ​Miami's credentials as a cocaine capitol are well established, but for that last weekend every March during the Ultra Music Festival, it's no secret an extravaganza of ecstasy use takes hold of the city. Now, one of the largest studies i ... More >>

What Are We Gonna Call the Week of Ultra Music Festival?

Photo by Ian WitlenHelp us help the confused Ultra ravers.​As conference approaches, if someone is "winning" the battle of the dueling electronic music weeks in March, it's definitely Ultra Music Festival. That's not to say Winter Music Conference will be a total dud. In the coming weeks, though, ... More >>

Afrobeta Remix Contest Could Put You Onstage at Ultra 2011

Afrobeta​We love a good contest, especially when the grand prize is a chance to play for thousands at an enormous electronic music festival. And that's exactly what Afrobeta, their label Do IT Music Group, and Ultra Music Festival are offering every wannabe DJ-producer.The deal? You gotta take a s ... More >>

Sunday School for Degenerates Gets Freaky During Ultra Music Festival March 25

​Rejoice freaky party people 'cause Made Event's massive Sunday School for Degenerates throwdown is back for another year. And just as we speculated last week when announcing the Anjunabeats party, class will be convening alongside Ultra Music Festival and not WMC. Like the 2010 edition (and Abo ... More >>