After kicking Ultra Music Festival's flagship event out of its longtime downtown home, the Miami City Commission has authorized the city manager to offer the event a license to return to Bayfront Park. It's a surprise development in an ongoing drama that began nearly a year ago when that same panel unceremoniously revoked the 21-year-old event's license to operate just one day after UMF began selling tickets for its 2019 edition. This latest offer is "subject to review and approval by the City Attorney."
In September of 2018, the commission cited residential noise and traffic complaints. Ultra soon secured a controversial license to operate its 2019 festival on the island of Virginia Key, about a 15 to 20-minute drive south of Bayfront Park. The resulting festival this March was poorly-organized, leading to more traffic congestion than ever and many complaints from neighbors and attendees. In May of this year, Ultra announced it would not return to Virginia Key (about the same time its license to operate there was also to be revoked), agreeing that Ultra 2019's event "was simply not good enough."