Ultra Music Festival: A Transcendental Experience

Imagine being within a sea of 100,000 people who all share a passionate love for electronic dance music. This is exactly what Ultra Music Festival is. Now in its 12th year of being a music festival, Ultra has been looked upon as being one of the greatest EDM festivals in the world. This past weekend during March 26th and March 27th, the city of Miami, Florida saw over 100,000 people converge upon it with the intent to dance and have a sensationally great time. During the two-day event, there were over 200 international leading electronic music artists, DJs and electro bands performing for those who came.I went down to Miami this year to experience Ultra for myself and I have to say that I was completely blown away at how incredible of an experience it was. I highly recommend anyone with a love for dance music and good vibes to go to Ultra and experience something that may even become life-changing.

Ultra does not shy away from acquiring the biggest talent out there today. Some of the big names to see at this year’s Ultra event were Benni Benassi, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Deadmau5, Carl Cox, and the Swedish House Mafia. There were over 10 stages where artists and DJs performed, giving plenty of choices for people as to what to listen and dance to.  To show just how big this event has gotten, it was estimated that over 1.4 million people in 178 countries logged on to watch a stream of two of the festival’s music stages. That is an incredible number of people interested in a musical style that the old media outlets such as radio still have not caught up to. Given the incredible talent seen at Ultra, the music festival has received many awards, including  “Best Music Event” by the International Dance Music Awards (IDMA) from 2005 – 2010, “Best International Dance Music Festival” by the Ibiza DJ Awards in 2008 and “Best Festival” by the Village Voice Media New Times consecutively five years running from 2005 through 2009.

Ultra Music Festival has the power of being a life-changing experience. It can even be a transcendental and spiritual experience where one feels the higher mind-states of love, joy, happiness, serenity, bliss, and ecstasy within their being. There is a feeling of oneness within the sea of people. When the beat drops and everyone throws their hands in the air, jumping up and down, you can feel that you are part of something greater. As modern and sophisticated as it may seem, Ultra, and festivals like it, are seemingly modern recreations of something very primal. They seem to be modern representations of tribal gatherings and celebratory ceremonies; only today, all the unnecessary baggage has been stripped away to leave a raw and pure form of the celebration of being alive…of living life happily and to the fullest. Tasting all the good things that life has to offer is something that should never be shunned or banned. As one of the tracks that Benni Benassi played this year at Ultra says, “I’m On The Pursuit Of Happiness And I Know Everything That Shines Ain’t Always Gonna Be Gold. I’ll Be Fine Once I Get It; I’ll Be Good.”

It would be a lie to say that I was not overwhelmed with how many people I saw who looked not only beautiful, but also like good human beings. It was so overwhelming that it was difficult to make friends since nearly everyone looked like an amazing person that you would love to become friends with. Even so, I was able to meet several dozen people who were incredibly amiable and happy. With sunshine, electro, and smiles everywhere, it is difficult *not* to feel good. Given how large Ultra has become, it has gained international attention and now there is an estimated 15% of attendees who have come from Europe to enjoy this delicious event. I was impressed by how nice they were, as I found out first-hand when a couple of people from the Czech Republic were nice enough to give me and some of my friends a ride from the festival in Bicentennial Park over to South Beach, which is not a casual walking distance.

With the sunshine producing copious amounts of serotonin for all of those in attendance, with the positive energy in the music, and with the contagious smiles going around, Ultra was an event that I would classify as one that assists in the facilitation of a global consciousness shift to a higher level. There was such a strong feeling of unity and happiness felt by myself as well as others that I talked with, which shows just how impressionable it was on people. With 100,000+ individuals projecting and radiating out positive consciousness states of love, joy, and bliss, it is not difficult to see how this could impact the global transpersonal consciousness of humanity in a positive way. There is nothing to lose from experiencing these high mind-states but there is everything to gain. Not only is an event like Ultra promotive of positive shifts in collective consciousness, it is also simply a fun and enjoyable experience, well worth the cost of entry.

If there is one event that you are willing to set aside money for, let Ultra Music Festival be that event, if you enjoy electronic dance music. I could not write enough good things about this event in order to capture how much of an enjoyable, transformative, and euphoric experience it is. Next year, the festival will be three instead of the current two days, leaving even more time to enjoy the music and meet amazing new people. Even if you are not that familiar with all the different artists and DJs, if you love to dance and enjoy being around good vibes, you will love this event. Take a few days off before and after the event begins, so that you will have plenty of time to check out the infamous pool parties, pre-parties, and after-parties. You will be very grateful that you dedicated enough time in order to have the full experience of Ultra. See you there next year.