Features
Ultra Fest’s Rising Costs
Next year’s Ultra Music Fest at Miami’s Bayfront Park is already making headlines as an increase in ticket prices is leaving some fans out of luck.
Early-bird GA tickets for the March 28-30 event at Bayfront Park at $149.95 sold out in four minutes.
The next round of advance GA tickets at $274.95 disappeared in about 20 minutes. Fans who missed the presale will have to pay $399.95 for GA ($100 more than in 2013) or $849.95 for VIP tickets.
Those prices don’t include service charges and shipping. Ultra Music Fest reps told the Miami Herald that after holding ticket prices down for two years, the increase couldn’t be avoided.
“To ensure the premium quality and evolution of Ultra’s groundbreaking stage productions and artist lineups, while continuing to meet the ever-increasing financial demands of city-related expenses associated with producing this massive festival in the heart of an urban metropolis, this price increase was unfortunately necessary.”
Those costs include $1.3 million to the city for the venue in 2012 and $3.4 million this year because of the expanded, two-weekend schedule.
This year’s March 15-17 and March 22-24 festivities featured an extensive lineup including Avicii, Azealia Banks, Bassnectar, David Guetta, Fatboy Slim, Hot Chip, Kaskade, Matt & Kim, and
Ultra Music Fest 2014 is set for one weekend pending City of Miami approval for a second weekend.