Video: Here's What Partying at Ultra Music Festival in 1999 Looked Like

The Ultra of today feels so far removed from the one-day beach party on the sands of South Beach that started it all.

March 19, 2025

Image: The crowd at Ultra Music Festival in 1999

Ultra Music Festival started as a one-day beach party in Miami Beach on March 12, 1999. Ultra Music Festival photo

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Ultra Music Festival is celebrating its 25th edition this year, returning to Bayfront Park March 28-30. With massive stages, an all-star lineup, and sold-out attendance, the Ultra of today feels so far removed from the one-day beach party on the sands of South Beach that started it all.

On March 12, 1999, Russell Faibisch and then-business partner Alex Omes brought to life their vision of a music festival devoted to dance music. DJs were already flocking to Miami every March for Winter Music Conference, the dance music industry event that hosted networking events, panel discussions, and parties, making it easier for the nascent festival to book high-caliber producers, DJs, and acts. Ultra '99 saw acts like Hybrid, LTJ Bukem, Josh Wink, and Armand van Helden, with Tampa natives Rabbit in the Moon acting as headliners.

click to enlarge

Ultra Music Festival

If you want to be transported back to that first edition, user DreamBeamz has uploaded a six-part video of that momentous beach party in 1999. Most of the low-quality footage comes from the set of German producer Talla 2XLC. The stage production is comically simple by today's standards — just a step above your cousin's quiceañera. It's evident that dance music still hadn't taken hold of mainstream audiences. Talla 2XLC is spinning a hard trance set on vinyl — virtually unheard of at Ultra today — as ravers jump and groove to the beat. After sunset, the glow sticks come out as the stage comes alive with some lights and visuals that are far from what Ultra's main stage looks like nowadays.

Ultra held one more beach party the following year before moving to Bayfront Park in downtown Miami in 2001. It then moved to the much larger Bicentennial Park just north of Bayfront from 2006-2011. It eventually moved back to Bayfront Park after the construction of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Frost Science Museum, and Maurice A. Ferré Park forced it to relocate. Save for the 2019 edition, which took place on Virginia Key, Ultra has called Bayfront Park home since then.

Below, check out a few glimpses of where it all began.

Jose D. Duran has been the associate web editor of Miami New Times since 2008. He's the voice and strategist behind the publication's eyebrow-raising Facebook and Twitter feeds. He has also been reporting on Miami's music, entertainment, and cultural scenes since 2006, previously through sites such as MiamiNights.com and OnBeat.com. He earned his BS in journalism with a minor in art history from the University of Florida. He's a South Florida native and will be a Miami resident as long as climate change permits and the temperature doesn't drop below 60 degrees.

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