Ultra’s milestone 25th anniversary was a decisive reminder of its greatness [Review]

Published on Monday, 14 April 2025 13:27

The annual Sunday evening, late-March walk to the outskirts of Bayfront Park consistently leaves me with the belief that the past weekend spent in downtown Miami supersedes many that have come before it. And although some degree of recency bias involuntarily creeps in, that impression felt in the wake of Ultra’s 25th anniversary weekend held true more than ever.

For a milestone weekend that would celebrate the quarter-century mark of its flagship festival, Ultra crafted what many — including me — believed to be its strongest artist offering of the past decade or so, at least on paper. And while that lengthy collection of unmissable acts — 15 of which I wanted to specifically acknowledge ahead of time — would inevitably lead to more than a few stressful conflict decisions for myself as well as the 50,000 daily attendees, it translated into a fully fledged reality of unrelenting Ultra superiority across March 28, 29, and 30.

First and foremost, this cannot continue without a section of appreciation for Richard Milstein, the mind responsible for Ultra’s annual stage designs. There were reasonable expectations that Milstein and his REDNOIR creative team would architect a mainstage design that we would be able to stack up against some of Ultra’s most iconic designs since 2013. And he did just that, engineering what I wholeheartedly consider to be Ultra’s most impressive mainstage structure since 2016’s magnum opus as well as first-class production arrangements at both the MegaStructure and Worldwide stages.

Let’s dive into the weekend itself. I could understandably convert this article into a thesis-length explanation about each and every standout moment of the weekend (there are individual set recaps on the Dancing AstronautInstagram that can help with that) but I’ll spare everyone from any further incoherent rambling. The seconds, minutes, and hours spent throughout another three-day run at Bayfront Park — from opening with Miss Monique at the MegaStructure to seeing Alesso reunite Ultra with the greatest song known to mankind all the way down to wrapping up the weekend with Martin Garrix’s grand finale on Sunday evening — comprised of some of the most unforgettable memories that I have built up in nearly a decade of annual March trips to Miami. At the very least, I have to specifically nod towards the three-and-a-half-hour sequence that decisively etched day two into Ultra’s hall of fame. The progression of Axwell — who appeared unaccompanied for the first time at Ultra — into Skrillex — who returned to Bayfront Park for the first time in a decade — into Hardwell — who finalized Saturday’s mainstage run with one of his all-time sets — was an outright masterclass of an evening. When prompted with the question of which singular artist was responsible for my go-to slot of the weekend, my reply is that I simply cannot separate the perfection that was the second half of March 29 at Bayfront Park.

While there’s an overwhelming consensus that 2025 prevailed as an edition that holds its own against cherished Ultra installments like 2013 or 2016, there’s always room for improvement as we now look towards the 26th anniversary. The first point of feedback has to be that Ultra should address its bottleneck entry issue for general admission, with extensive lines beginning to form at certain points throughout the weekend. Once attendees made it to the second step of entry, some had attested to the fact that security seemed a bit too nonchalant, leading to a sea of tall flag poles — which are explicitly named in Ultra’s prohibited items list — from people that conveniently chose to stand front and center. Instead of the annual battle against fan clackers, it was the flag poles in 2025 that would consistently clog up the view at mainstage from any angle on the dance floor.

For a second year in a row, we were unable to remain in Mother Nature’s good graces for the weekend’s entirety, with a thunderstorm leading to a temporary shutdown of the festival on early Sunday afternoon. And after Ultra had broadcast an evacuation message on its mainstage screen, some confusion quickly stemmed surrounding the status of festival entry as well as stage closures. It wouldn’t be until a few hours later that Ultra would share the news that the evening would be extended by an hour as well as an updated timetable, despite a couple of real-time scheduling changes — like Kaskade and Steve Aoki having swapped slots — having already come and gone.

But in the grand scheme of things, the above comments are truly just minor blips encountered during an otherwise seamless anniversary celebration in the heart of downtown Miami.

Even after a quarter century of operations, the 25th anniversary reminded myself of one thing for sure: Ultra remains my favorite place on Earth.

Between furthering its lengthly record of all-time performances, designing another slate of world-class stage production, continuously maximizing the sublime setting that is Bayfront Park, and combining every other little thing that comes together makes Ultra what it is, the weekend gave the dance music world a front-row seat of Ultra Music Festival at its highest form.

Thank you so much to Ultra, all of the production team, all of the staff, all of the crew, and everyone else that comes together to make this festival happen each and every March.

Featured image: Alive Coverage

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