With all that has occurred around the world in recent times, the biggest concern for any music festival would be it’s safety, especially for Ultra Music Festival in Miami. The festival has developed into the biggest stage of the year for electronic music artists and with Bayfront Park surrounded by many buildings, ensuring safety was a challenge. However, despite the difficulties, this year’s Ultra Music Festival was labeled the safest Ultra ever.
Beyond the fear of a terrorist attack, the concern for arrests and drug overdoses is always also overwhelming. Security Director, Ray Martinez, reported that only 27 arrests were made this year over the course of the three days. This marks an improvement from last year’s festival of 35 arrests. Furthermore, it is an even bigger improvement from 2016’s festival of 67 arrests. Most of the arrests made this year were due to the sale of fake tickets and assault.
The Miami Herald credited the decrease in arrests to the maturity of the crowd. They claimed that this year’s attendees seemed to be more experienced in the Ultra festival itself.
In addition to the decrease in arrests, it was also reported that hospitalization rates have dropped as well. Only 8 attendees were hospitalized on Friday and Saturday each and 20 attendees on Sunday.
While the statistics reflect that festival safety in terms of arrests and hospitalizations seem to be gradually improving, there is always room for more improvement. No arrests/hospitalizations shouldn’t be unattainable. But hopefully, the improvement in statistics will convince the city of Miami to Ultra to remain in their home of Bayfront Park in the coming years.