Ultra Weekend Brings Lasers, Smoke, Pyrotechnics, Traffic

MIAMI, FL — Smoke, fire, lasers, pyrotechnics — traffic. The Ultra Music Festival returns to Miami this weekend with all of the above plus much more during the annual three-day music festival.

This year's event kicked off Friday afternoon at the festival's new home at Virginia Key Beach Park and Miami Marine Stadium. The event runs through 2 a.m. Monday morning.

Officer Kenia Fallat of the Miami Police Department warned festival goers that there will be no parking around the venue. Festival goers were urged to take a Lyft or Uber to Virginia Key or arrive via one of several transportation hubs where shuttles or water taxis will be available.

"Miami police officers will be assigned throughout various areas to include the Rickenbacker Causeway, Brickell Avenue, S. Miami Avenue and Miami Brickell Roads neighborhood in order to assist residents, patrons and with the traffic control conditions," Fallat said.

Miami police put together a video with five tips for festival goers below:

Not everyone was eager to see the arrival of Ultra. Neighboring Key Biscayne officials fought the move from downtown Miami because the festival will disrupt the only land-base route in and out of their upscale island community.

"I think we all agree that none of us want this event," declared Key Biscayne Police Chief Charles Press appearing in a video with Fire Chief Eric Lang.

Key Biscayne officials said first responders would be standing by throughout the weekend. The fire department has positioned fire equipment in the community while the police department was planning to have more officers on duty than ever before as well as a mobile license plate reader to scan vehicles as they enter the village.

"The hours from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. will cause what we believe (is) exceptionally difficult traffic at times," Press added. "With all of our mitigation efforts we are hoping that it can at least be a responsible level of traffic difficulty."

According to court documents that were filed ahead of the festival, Ultra is expected to draw an estimated 165,000 people over the weekend.

AT&T has set up a cell tower on wheels, which the mobile giant endearingly refers to as a COW, to boost internet connectivity in the area for its customers.

"Events like festivals are full of moments customers want to share through texts, pictures, status updates and phone calls," said AT&T FLorida President Joe York. "We're working to give them great coverage and fast speeds."

Message boards have also been placed around the area to provide information related to traffic conditions and potential delays.

Miami-Dade police will be handling the traffic around Rickenbacker Causeway east of the William Powell Bridge. Expect to see Miami-Dade Officers starting near Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill, which is located at 3301 Rickenbacker Causeway.

On the way home, festival goers won't be able to take a Lyft of Uber directly from Virginia Key. They will have to first take a shuttle or water taxi to one of the transportation hubs located at American Airlines Arena, the Arts & Entertainment District (formerly Miami Herald Plaza) or Vizcaya and Bayside Marketplace in the case of water taxis.

Miami-Dade Transit's Metrorail and Metromover will both operate 24 hours per day throughout the festival.

The closest stops to Ultra's shuttle hubs are Vizcaya Metrorail station. College/Bayside Metromover station, Freedom Tower Metromover station and Adrienne Arsht Metromover station.

Ultra gates open at 2 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They close at 2 a.m. the following mornings of all three days.

Parking will be available for $30 per day or $75 for all three days at the Omni Garage or AmericanAirlines Arena Garage with shuttle service available to the venue.

More Ultra Music Festival transportation information can be found here.