MIAMI, Fla. – Set up is underway where two worlds will collide this weekend.
There will be spring break crowds on Miami Beach and, after a two-year forced pandemic break, the Ultra Music Festival will be at Bayfront Park in Miami.
The electronic music festival is expected to bring 55,000 people to the city but what happens when the shows end at midnight? Most likely, thousands of those fans will be in South Florida ready to party.
Chief Manuel Morales of the Miami Police said about the music festival: “We’re looking forward to having an event that’s incident free.”
Technically, the party won’t be able to cross the Bay if revelers want to head to Miami Beach to continue their fun.
Miami Beach’s curfew, which is concentrated south of 23rd Street in the entertainment district, won’t allow non-residents to stay past midnight.
Miami Beach officials are telling anyone who lives there or is staying on the island to be ready to prove it.
The city’s Mayor Dan Gelber is advising people to be prepared.
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“It certainly would make sense to have some record of where you live or where you’re going, so that if by chance you are pulled over you’re able to explain,” he said.
Gelber said there are no plans to shut down the causeways from the mainland since after Florida Department of Transportation said Miami Beach should not consider closing the thoroughfares.
So where will the crowds go? Expect to see extra police presence in downtown Miami, Brickell, Wynwood, and, of course, South Beach.
“At the end of the day (with) this many people, there are going to be a certain amount that are going to act stupid and there are some that may act criminally,” Gelber said.
The best advice may be that if you’re not a spring breaker or an Ultra Music concertgoer, you’re likely better off staying home.
YOUR OPINION: Do you think a curfew on South Beach is the solution?