Ultra In Political Dance Off With Key Biscayne

KEY BISCAYNE, FL — Call it a political dance off. The mayor-elect of Key Biscayne made it clear in a new video that the driving beat of Ultra music festival can drive somewhere else.

Ultra accused Mayor-elect Mike Davey and his village of spreading disinformation through "false and misleading" information about the three-day event as a critical vote looms Thursday to decide whether Ultra will be moving to nearby Viginia Key with or without the new mayor's blessing.

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With only one way in and one way out of Key Biscayne, the locals will have to navigate Ultra traffic to get to their homes. Village officials estimate that the event will draw 50,000 people each day — or about four times as many people as the Miami Open tennis tournament.

"It is deeply regrettable that Mayor-elect, Mike Davey and the Village of Key Biscayne have elected to publish statements that are knowingly false and misleading rather than to first seek to collaborate with either Ultra representatives or its city of Miami partners," Ultra event organizers said of the campaign to derail the festival's move on Sunday.

After hearing from a chorus of unhappy residents in late September, the Miami City Commission unanimously rejected an extension of Ultra Music Festival's agreement that allowed thousands of electronic music lovers to take over Bayfront Park in downtown Miami each year.

But the commission is considering a proposal to move the event to Virginia Key, which is near the affluent village of Key Biscayne off Rickenbacker Causeway.

"To be clear, we don't oppose music festivals," Davey said in the video. "What we oppose is destruction of the environment at Virginia Key, the obvious risk to one of our most important historic places, the traffic nightmare this will create in Coconut Grove, the roads, Brickell, downtown and yes, Key Biscayne."

Davey also pointed to the "clear safety risks that caused the city of Miami to evict this event from Bayfront Park in the first place."

Ultra insisted that the video contained primarily stock images of "used needles, polluted shorelines, traffic gridlock," in an attempt to discredit the event.

“It unfairly disparages our brand and potentially criminalizes our patrons” said Ultra spokesman Ray Martinez.

Ultra added that the "horrendous images" were released to scare residents.

"Ultra condemns this conduct and cautions that such leadership is irresponsible and wrongful on multiple factual and legal grounds including that the disturbing images were not associated with the Ultra Music Festival brand," event organizers said.

An acoustical engineer who spoke at the September Miami Commission meeting on behalf of city residents, described the popular festival as an event that generates "gutt-shaking" intense sound levels that disrupt the rhythm of life.

"By all acoustical parameters, the Ultra Festival seriously degrades the quality of life for the downtown residents," the engineer said. "This is like having boombox cars parked and running, and blasting music in your living room and in your bedroom, with a power saw running simultaneously, all day and into the night."

Watch Mayor-elect Davey's video below:

Photo by Paul Scicchitano