Ultra Music Festival Will Cancel 2021 Event

The same COVID-19 conditions that precipitated the festival's 2020 cancellation remain a threat in 2021.

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The same COVID-19 conditions that precipitated the festival's 2020 cancellation remain a threat in 2021.

The organizers of Ultra Music Festival are planning to cancel the event's 2021 edition, according to a letter obtained by Billboard.

The letter is dated January 21st, 2021 and came from Ultra's attorney, Sandy York. Addressed to Miami City Manager Arthur Noriega, it reveals that York anticipates the City of Miami will invoke the "Force Majeure" clause in the festival's Bayfront Park license agreement. The implementation of such a clause typically takes place due to unforeseeable circumstances—such as a pandemic—that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.

York believes the same COVID-19 conditions that precipitated the festival's 2020 cancellation remain a threat in 2021. While no formal announcement has been made at the time of this article's publication, Billboard reports that Ultra's organizers are waiting until the City of Miami approves their permit request for the 2022 event before officially pulling the plug. In the letter, York formally requested that Ultra return March 25-27, 2022 at the Bayfront Park Amphitheatre.

Ultra Music Festival organizers found themselves embroiled in controversy after they opted to denote the event's 2020 cancellation as a "postponement" and refused to issue ticket refunds. They instead informed guests that tickets would roll over to 2021 or 2022, giving people only 30 days to decide and sparking backlash from the dance music community. The debacle went on to trigger a class-action lawsuit, which is currently in arbitration as of November 2020.