In March of last year, Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami played host to the successful return of the Ultra Music Festival, which drew 165,000 visitors from 112 different countries. The weekend commenced with a custom light-up drone show announcing that Ultra Music Festival would host its 23rd annual edition from Friday, March 24 – Sunday, March 26, 2023, with Swedish House Mafia headlining.
With the recent release of its illustrious Phase 1 roster for the 2023 edition, Ultra has once again cemented its reputation as a premier source for genre-defying artists.
Swedish House Mafia as the top headliner for Ultra Music Festival 2023 lineup
Swedish House Mafia leads the lineup as Ultra’s flagship headlining act, returning to the festival after their historic unannounced Main Stage comeback in 2018. The group has been performing in arenas across North America for the past two months to promote Paradise Again, and this fall they will tour more of Europe.
After ending a four-year absence with a surprise closing set on the festival’s Main Stage last March, legendary Dutch producer and DJ Hardwell will play the festival’s headlining slot in 2023. Having teased a majority of his new studio album REBELS NEVER DIE during his unannounced Ultra performance, Hardwell toured the LP across the world before finally releasing the full 14-track album earlier this month.
Kaskade and deadmau5‘s super-duo Kx5 will host a few inaugural headlining performances at Ultra that span the enormous range of electronic music. The pair’s debut Ultra performance follows the release of their first two Kx5 singles “Escape ft. Hayla” and “Take Me High,” and with the inaugural Kx5 album slated for release in 2023, fans can expect a performance brimming with exciting new music.
In addition to his back-to-back with Kaskade as Kx5, deadmau5 will perform as his techno alias Testpilot alongside Oliver Heldens’ techno moniker HI-LO in a never-before-seen world debut. Oliver Heldens and deadmau5 used the HI-LO and Testpilot projects as platforms to promote their heaviest, darkest records, and both have won the respect of the underground scene.
Ultra lineup will also include exclusive b2b such as Oliver Heldens and Tchami
Grimes, an eclectic electronic-pop performer, will also make her Ultra debut with a unique DJ set that will highlight her cutting-edge discography. French trailblazer CloZee will perform at her first Ultra Music Festival with her much-awaited live act. With her worldwide bass tone and organic instrumentation, the classically educated musician has quickly ascended through the ranks of electronic music. Representing the bass music genre, Ganja White Night and Subtronics will each make their long-awaited inaugural Ultra performances at the 2023 event.
Together, Dutch producer Oliver Heldens and French producer Tchami will perform on stage at Ultra, marking yet another first. This pair’s debut collaboration “LOW” with Anabel Englund from earlier this year comes after this back-to-back performance. Over the years, Oliver Heldens and Tchami have both remained essential components of Ultra’s lineup, with Heldens most recently appearing at ULTRA Japan and the next ULTRA Beach Bali event.
The Megastructure and The Cove are the two stages where Ultra’s revered underground concept, RESISTANCE, will once again host a variety of the most in-demand performers in house and techno.
MEGASTRUCTURE will return in 2023 at Bayfront Park for Ultra Miami
Eric Prydz will be featured in the RESISTANCE programme. He will debut his extremely rare, technologically advanced HOLO show in the Megastructure for the first time, mesmerizing spectators with cutting-edge graphics and mind-bending light effects. Fans may totally immerse themselves in the sounds of Eric Prydz thanks to the highly sought-after holographic experience, which pushes the frontiers of light and audio technology.
Carl Cox, who has been an integral component of Ultra Music Festival ever since his performance at the festival’s third-ever edition back in 2001, will also be welcomed back to the RESISTANCE Megastructure. With each event, the renowned British producer and DJ has contributed to defining Ultra’s history. Cox made his live-hybrid performance idea premiere at Ultra 2022 with a mesmerizing three-hour headline show. The Afterlife leaders Tale Of Us, who gave a spellbinding performance at the 2022 event, will also make a return appearance at The Megastructure.
The West Coast-based underground label Dirtybird will take over The Cove Stage with a stage takeover led by the label’s own Claude Vonstroke.
The big returns: Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren and Zedd
Armada label boss Armin van Buuren will also host a stage takeover from his global radio show A State of Trance, marking the 11th anniversary of curating performances from the genre’s most prominent talents at Ultra Music Festival. The Grammy-nominated Dutch producer/DJ has performed at Ultra every year since 2008, and with 21 entries, he owns the record for most appearances on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums Chart.
Along with Armin Van Buuren, Ultra will host well-known performers including Dutch superstar Martin Garrix, who made his Ultra debut in 2014 at the age of just 17 and has since headlined each festival’s edition (besides 2018.) The STMPD RCRDS founder recently took center stage at ULTRA Worldwide events like ULTRA Korea and ULTRA Japan, and finally unveiled his critically-acclaimed debut LP Sentioearlier this year.
Zedd, a multi-platinum artist and three-time GRAMMY winner, will perform on Ultra’s Main Stage for the first time since 2019. The internationally renowned performer has amassed billions of listens across platforms and has repeatedly topped the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Zedd is hot on the heels of his colossal ULTRA Japan set, during which he brought his “Follow” collaborator Martin Garrix on stage for a surprise back-to-back performance after joining Garrix for his headlining set the night prior.
Timmy Trumpet, a multi-platinum producer and live instrumentalist, will return to Ultra in 2023 with his jazz-infused dance music. The Australian artist has been hot on the ULTRA Worldwide circuit with Main Stage performances at ULTRA Europe, ULTRA Japan, and ULTRA Korea.
One of Brazil’s hottest dance music acts Vintage Culture will return to Ultra’s flagship event following his highly-praised back-to-back set with Claptone in 2022. The top-charting musician had been a top-selling artist on Beatport for most of the previous year and won Producer of the Year at the 2022 Electronic Dance Music Awards.
Electronic music at its best with REZZ, Gryffin and NGHTMRE at Ultra Miami 2023
This March, Canadian producer REZZ, who has twice taken home the JUNO Award for Electronic Album of the Year, will return to Ultra. She made her Ultra debut in 2017, gradually becoming the headlining act by 2019. She has published four studio albums in her brief but fruitful career had a commercial for the Apple MacBook Pro, and appeared in the Canadian documentary film Underplayed.
For the first time ever, Gryffin will perform as the headlining act at Ultra Music Festival. The multi-platinum selling, classically trained artist made his Ultra debut in 2016 and 2017 as a supporting act before making a triumphant return to Bayfront Park as the festival’s headlining act for the 23rd edition. In 2019’s #1 Dance/ElectronicAlbums chart, his debut album Gravity immediately shot to the top spot. Most recently, he published his sophomore album Alive, which was followed by a number of significant US tour visits.
NGHTMRE, Big Giganticas GIGANTIC NGHTMRE, the genre-blending producer Kayzo, and other seasoned performers will all perform live sets at Ultra.
Ultra Music Festival has released 2022 Aftermovie For The People by Final Kid
The Final Kid‘s For The People Aftermovie allows fans to relive the magic of Ultra’s stunning return to Miami’s Bayfront Park last year. Before showing the throng of eager Ultra guests being welcomed into the festival grounds for the first time since 2019, the film opens with magnificent imagery of Miami’s scenic surroundings. Chronicling three marathon days at festival, ‘For The People’ uses innovative filmmaking techniques to show off each stage’s groundbreaking designs, the festival’s eclectic dance music curation, the roster of world-famous headliners, and, of course, the thousands of happy Ultra attendees dancing their hearts out.
Final Kid is a genuinely amazing filmmaker whose style of making videos has come to be associated with the after-movie subgenre. Clocking up hundreds of millions of views worldwide, his footage is unmatched in the industry as he consistently captures the essence and character of each Ultra event in perfectly packaged form.
Tickets are currently on sale via the Ultra Miami website.
