MIAMI – Brianna Sanchez said she is among the Downtown Miami residents who plan to travel away from home to avoid the crowds in the area for the Ultra Music Festival.
Hundreds of workers were setting up stages and other temporary infrastructure Wednesday at Bayfront Park to entertain more than 150,000 electronic music fans.
“We’re actually getting out of town. A lot of people in my building are too. They’ve run down the keys and we’re going to Louisiana,” Sanchez said.
Louis Chiang, also a Downtown resident, said the worst part of this UMF week in the area is the “horrible traffic, so he suggested locals should avoid it ”at all cost."
A section of Biscayne Boulevard will be closed from 9 p.m., Thursday, to 7 a.m., Monday. Police officers will re-route northbound traffic at Southeast First Street and southbound traffic at Northeast Sixth Street.
The three-day festival’s chest-rattling bass coming from the network of stages with DJs performing sets simultaneously starts at 4 p.m. on Friday.
“It does get pretty loud,” Chiang said. “The good thing is they end at midnight.”
This year’s headliners include Skrillex, Solomun and Anyma, Hardwell, Oliver Heldens, Martin Garrix, Zeds Dead, deadmau5, Carl Cox, Dom Dolla, and Tiësto.
Chiang said that despite the traffic and how loud it gets the festival is so much fun that he has been going for five years and he will be going again this weekend.
“I am super excited,” Chiang said.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez was also “excited” about the festival.
“This is the golden goose, and we have to protect the golden goose,” Suarez said. “The way we do that is by having a good time, enjoying ourselves, doing it safely.”
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said police officers were ready for the event.
“We’re just replicating the success we’ve had in the past,” Morales said. “Last year, we only had seven arrests which is fantastic.”
Detectives asked the public to beware of fraudsters purporting to be reselling tickets in-person or online. This year’s general admission sold out and UMF was already accepting requests for the 2026 tickets waitlist.
Aside from hotels, the afterparty venues also include yachts, bars, lounges, and nightclubs increasing traffic mostly on Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach and in the city’s Downtown, Brickell, Midtown, and Wynwood neighborhoods.
“That’s going to be a big boom for all of the Uber drivers, taxi drivers, restaurants, cafes, in and out of Miami,” said Jeff Berger, a tourist.
UMF will be streaming some of the sets and interviews live. For those who are going, UMF bans fans from bringing in “illegal or illicit” substances or paraphernalia, weapons “of any kind” including self-defense sprays, and anything flammable including aerosols.
Organizers also prohibit stuffed animals; glow sticks; drones; markers, pens, or spray paint; and big backpacks, purses, or bags; outside food or beverages.
The event’s security staff also doesn’t allow fans to bring bottles, cans, canteens, flasks, or coolers; opened over-the-counter medication or eye drops; opened packs of cigarettes or tampons; balloons, balls, inflatable balls, frisbees or flying disks; or umbrellas, chairs, blankets, sleeping bags or tents.