Here’s when to avoid downtown Miami if you don’t want to get in an Ultra traffic jam

Howard Cohen
·1 min read
14

Miami will feel the low frequency rumble of thundering techno — and perhaps some forecast thunderstorms — as the masses descend on Bayfront Park in downtown Miami to see and hear hundreds of DJs crank up the beats for the 24th annual Ultra Music Festival.

Cars head west under heavy rain on the Palmetto Expressway in North Miami as a severe weather alert was issued by the National Weather Service for more rainfall and potential flooding that began around 8 a.m. Friday morning, March 22, 2024, and is expected to continue into Saturday. Also the first two days of the three-day 2024 Ultra Music Festival in downtown Miami’s Bayfront Park.

Several streets are already closed in preparation for Friday evening’s first Ultra day, and they will remain closed, with detours and other obstacles, for the duration of the three-day event that wraps Sunday night.

THE DETAILS: Heading downtown for Ultra, Miami Heat or ‘Hamilton?’ Expect detours, street shutdowns

Here are the precise times Ultra 2024 is in action when the sound and gridlock fury will likely hit max overload. This is when you may want to avoid downtown Miami unless you’re heading to the festival or Friday or Sunday’s Miami Heat basketball games at nearby Kaseya Center, or one of several Arsht Center shows including “Hamilton” and “Cabaret.”

Ultra hours

Ultra weekend dates: The 2024 Ultra Music Festival runs Friday-Sunday, March 22-24.

Ultra location: Bayfront Park, 301 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami.

Ultra days and nights

▪ Friday: Gates open at 4 p.m. until midnight.

▪ Saturday: Gates open at noon until midnight.

▪ Sunday: Gates open at noon until 10 p.m.

Electronic music fans, like Angelica Giasullo, then-20, from Orlando, dance during the second day of an earlier Ultra Music Festival in downtown Miami on March 25, 2017 in this file photo. The 2024 Ultra, its 24th, is in town again March 22-24, 2024.
Electronic music fans, like Angelica Giasullo, then-20, from Orlando, dance during the second day of an earlier Ultra Music Festival in downtown Miami on March 25, 2017 in this file photo. The 2024 Ultra, its 24th, is in town again March 22-24, 2024.

MORE: Miami Music Week returns with techno-fueled line ups at events all around the county