Our 1st Miami Music Week at WMC and Ultra Music Festival 25th anniversary

What a great first experience as press covering Winter Music Conference and the 25th anniversary of Ultra Music Festival in Miami!

WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE 2025
HIGHLIGHTS
Eden Roc Hotel was the headquarter of the 35th anniversary of the iconic conference for music industry professionals held in Miami Beach.
It hosted also EDMA+IDMA Awards 2025, based on almost 700k votes from all around the world, with a celebration including red carpet and dj sets from winners Hardwell, a special Alok (Best Performance @ Tomorrowland Brazil São Paulo 2024) b2b Armin Van Buuren (Best Radioshow ASOT + Best Label Armada Music), Hugel (Afrohouse Song of the Year “I Adore You” (ft. Daecolm) and more.

It was great attending and seeing artists happy to receive the bprecious CDJ-shaped prize, defined by CEO Sean Hollywood Hamilton “the heaviest and the most expensive award”!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHxYaB7xsTi/?igsh=MWMxMnkzM2MxMmFmdg==

Jumping around cool events included in the conference program in great venues, especially in Miami Beach hotels area, it was great meeting international artists and passionate people from all around the world!
From the opening at M2 with Deorro, Timmy Trumpet and Audien, we covered different pool parties of music labels, distributors, artists and brands like MoBlack with Bob Sinclar and Francis Mercier..

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y9y7YIa6JJ8

..Sam Feldt’s Heartfeldt, Dim Mak, Vydia, Axtone, STMPD RCRDS
(and we also found some YouBeat supporters around – it was a great surprise!)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Fk35Hmx8MtY

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ULTRA 2025
HIGHLIGHTS

On March 28-29-30, Bayfront Park welcomed 165,000 fans from over 100 countries and millions more via the #ULTRALIVE stream, with a stacked schedule of performances from multiple stages throughout the weekend, in addition to exclusive curated content like artist and fan interviews.
#ULTRALIVE featured The RESISTANCE Megastructure and The Cove also hosted their own dedicated streams across all three days, welcoming underground music stalwarts to bask in uninterrupted house and techno tuneage.
UMF confirms itself among the top global electronic musical festivals.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l3wUAdDcUkg

— Friday
Afrojack brought surprise guests David Guetta and Sia for the first-ever live performance of “Titanium” and their new collab “Beautiful People,” marking Sia’s debut at an electronic festival.

Everything Always (John Summit b2b Dom Dolla) was one of the most expected and great sets in our opinion!
Subtronics, Tiësto, and Alesso lit up the Main Stage, while RESISTANCE featured Charlotte de Witte, ARTBAT, and Boris Brejcha. Armin van Buuren delivered two sets at the Worldwide Stage’s A State of Trance takeover including a great b3b with Maddix and Oliver Heldens!

Zeds Dead debuted a new live set at the Live Stage while Chase & Status brought real fire (managed in a great way by Ultra team), and Partiboi69 brought his Area 69 concept to UMF Radio.
On Resistance The Cove stage, we really enjoyed Patrick Topping set!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CFBe4Y_I1rY

— Saturday
Skrillex returned to the Main Stage for his first solo performance since 2015 with a medley of surprise special guests, including UK rap legend Flowdan, four-time GRAMMY-winning reggeaton icon Damian Marley, Puerto Rican singer and rapper Young Miko, and Naisha for her first-ever live performance.

Among our favorite sets, KSHMR presented “The Live Experience” with a special fusion between musicians, visuals, fire and his unique style!

Anyma b2b Solomun, among the most chatted and hyped duets, was a world debut with an interesting fusion between these two iconic styles.

Hardwell closed the mainstage with new ID and past hits, while Axwell played his first solo set since 2019.
Carl Cox hosted his first-ever Carl Cox Invites stage takeover at RESISTANCE, while deadmau5 b2b Pendulum and Gessafelstein delivered show-stopping performances across stages.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NmUYsgmsYTA

— Sunday
Despite a big thunderstorm around the city that created some problems and delays during early-mid afternoon, people didn’t stop partying on boats and twerking at the festival, cheered by artists like Afrojack while Ultra team extended the end of last day for 1h to give the possibility to artists and attendees to recoup a bit of what missed and did its best to manage difficult conditions (check Resistance team trying to bring Mau P to the stage!)

Martin Garrix closed the Main Stage for the first time, joined by Armin van Buuren and performing with his own vocals on “Angels For Each Other” with Arijit Singh, after the live performance of new collaboration with Lauv.

Steve Aoki brought out Trippie Redd, Swae Lee, Marnik, Jessica Baio and others, while Solomun’s RESISTANCE debut takeover included Mau P and Four Tet.
Deadmau5 presented a Retrospective set, Above & Beyond returned with an exclusive Live Stage performance, and Dirty Workz closed out UMF Radio with top hardstyle acts.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IoUZGEcp_iI

 

Ultra’s 25th was a celebration of past, present, and future — a true milestone in dance music history.

Ultra’s Mission:Home Returns with 60+ Sustainability Initiatives
Following the success of 50 initiatives in 2024, Ultra’s award-winning Mission:Home is back for its fifth year with over 60 efforts centered on pollution prevention, climate action, waste reduction, nature preservation, and community engagement. Highlights include the launch of the Mission:Home Artist Alliance, empowering artists with tools for sustainability, and converting two more stages from generator to grid power. Ultra also recycled glass into sand for coastal restoration and flood control in Florida.

Continuing its long-standing Leave No Trace and recycling efforts, Ultra partnered with Clean Vibes for the fifth year to maintain clean grounds and sort waste, aiming again for 100% recycling acceptance.

#SHOPULTRA
Ultranauts in Miami had the chance to bring back home some exclusive items for 25th anniversary and we spotlighted especially the white-lightblue football shirt as well as the #UltraWorldwide Tour Bomber Jacket!
Don’t worry if you missed it this year, you can always find great products in the official online store: www.shopultra.com

RESISTANCE Miami & Ibiza Highlights
RESISTANCE Miami hosted a third sold-out residency at M2 Nightclub during Miami Music Week, featuring major names like Carl Cox, Charlotte de Witte, ARTBAT, Nicole Moudaber, and more.

Looking ahead, RESISTANCE Ibiza returns to Amnesia for a nine-week run from July 23 to September 17, 2025.
Season residents Adam Beyer and ARTBAT will be joined by top artists including Anfisa Letyago, ANNA, Argy, Chris Avantgarde, Eli Brown, Gordo, HI-LO, Ilario Alicante, Innellea, Joris Voorn, Kölsch, Korolova(Resident), Maceo Plex, Marco Faraone, Massano (Resident), Mathame, Mau P, Mind Against, Nicole Moudaber, Richie Hawtin, Sasha & John Digweed, Stephan Bodzin (live), and Vintage Culture.

Ultra Music Festival will celebrate its 26th edition at Bayfront Park from March 27–29, 2026.
Tickets on sale now!

[[ Thanks to the great Ultra PRESS team for the warm welcome and opportunity! ]]