Breaking – Ultra Music Festival Miami in Talks With The City Over Risk Of Being Cancelled Due to Coronavirus

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ultra miami 2020 cancelled

After announcing just yesterday that things are currently going to go on as normal for Ultra Miami 2020, a lot seems to have changed today.

In a tweet by Mayor Gimenez on March 3, he said as per guidance from Florida’s Surgeon General, everything seemed on track.

But things seemed to take a quick turn just a day later. After being cleared for the most part and discussing health and safety measures, Ultra Music Festival Miami seems to be in a fix once again. Two of Miami’s elected leaders are calling to postpone the event due to the imminent risk of the Coronavirus globally. Their main concerns being, people coming into Miami from around the world for the 3-day event and being in close proximity throughout.

As reported by the Miami Herald, Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is chairman of the semi-autonomous government agency that manages Bayfront Park, and Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters earlier today morning that they plan to discuss suspending the three-day electronic dance music event, scheduled for March 20-22 at Bayfront Park. Ultra organizers are expected to meet with the elected officials and City Manager Art Noriega at 11:30 a.m. today, March 4.

Saying that they were not looking to cancel but were urging the organizers to postpone the event, Carollo said, “We are going to be having a meeting today with folks from Ultra to discuss the possibility of them suspending the event. We’re saying suspend it to a later date when we’ll have a better idea of where we’re heading with the coronavirus.”

But in all reality, is postponing an event this close to the time where people travel from all over the world even a possible solution? But speaking about the issue, Suarez said they were reacting to the concerned residents of Miami. He went on to say, “I can tell you that just in the last 24 hours, I have received countless emails and messages of all kinds urging the city to act. That is another major motivator to have this conversation before it gets too late.”

After the cancellation of Ultra Abu Dhabi which was set to take place this weekend on March 5-6 featuring acts like Zedd, Alesso, Major Lazer and more, not much of an explanation was given. The website saw an update just two days before the event saying “The local organizers of Ultra Abu Dhabi have canceled the upcoming event. Tickets will be refunded through the original point of purchase.”

In doing their bit to try and bring health and safety of attendees to the forefront this time around, and in order to try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Chief of Security at Ultra held talks with Frank Rollason, the Mayor of Miami-Dade’s emergency director. There are plans of putting in hand sanitization stations and making them prominent across the festival grounds and also putting in an extra effort into promoting health and hygiene across the 3-days.

Ultra also issued a statement on their website under the Health and Wellness section saying, “…There are no plans to cancel, postpone or move the 2020 production. There is no higher priority than the health, safety and overall well-being of our attendees, artists, crew and local community.”

What comes out of the meeting today and what it holds in store for the event’s 2020 flagship edition still remains to be seen. This story will be updated as information becomes available.

Update as of 5th March 2020, 1:11 AM IST

The Miami mayor just told reporters that they and Ultra organizers will have an announcement Friday morning.

Update as of 5th March 2020, 10:18 AM

Ultra Music Festival 2020 has been officially cancelled

Melody Siganporia
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