Ultra Music Festival 2025 Celebrates 25th Anniversary at Bayfront Park in Miami

Ultra Music Festival 2025 reminded the world why it’s the ultimate destination for dance music lovers. Celebrating 25 years of dance music magic, this year’s edition brought the energy, the surprises, and the kind of moments that remind you why Ultra is in a league of its own. From the packed stages to the unexpected collabs, the weekend felt like a nonstop celebration of everything that makes the electronic music scene so special. Whether you were there in the crowd or catching the action online, Ultra 2025 delivered the kind of memories that’ll stick with fans for a lifetime.

The weekend was packed with jaw-dropping moments and surprise collaborations, but few were as iconic as Afrojack’s headline set. In an unforgettable move, he brought out David Guetta and Sia for the first-ever live performance of their global smash “Titanium,” creating a pop culture moment that will go down not only in Ultra history but in global music history.

Performing his highly-anticipated set at Ultra Main Stage on Saturday (marking ten years since his last return), Skrillex delivered quite possibly one of the best sets of the weekend. Joined by surprise guests Flowdan, Damian Marley, Naisha, and Young Miko, the dubstep icon treated fans to a barrage of unreleased collaborations with names like Nitepunk, ISOxo, and Peekaboo, cementing his legacy as one of dance music’s most innovative forces.

Martin Garrix made Ultra history on Sunday night, closing out the festival for the very first time. His high-energy set featured a surprise appearance by Armin van Buuren, with the two unveiling a brand-new collaboration (their long-anticipated first official collaboration) live on stage. In a first for Ultra’s finale, Garrix capped off the night with his own vocals—making the moment feel even more personal and unforgettable.

Other standout performances included Alesso debuting a new track with Becky Hill and bringing out legendary vocalist Nadia Ali, and Carl Cox unveiling his ‘Evolution’ live set while curating his first-ever ‘Carl Cox Invites’ stage takeover at the RESISTANCE Megastructure. Solomun also made waves with his debut Diynamic label showcase on Sunday, featuring Mau P, Four Tet, and Chloé Caillet before jumping into a rare back-to-back set alongside all three.

Surprises were a theme across the weekend—Kaskade stunned fans with an unannounced Main Stage set, Anyma and Solomun performed a world-premiere b2b, and Everything Always (John Summit and Dom Dolla) closed out Friday with a fiery tech-house debut. Armin van Buuren kept fans on their toes with three sets, including a solo set at the annual A State Of Trance Worldwide Stage takeover on Friday ahead of a b3b with Maddix and Oliver Heldens, and a Main Stage performance on Saturday featuring exclusively his own tracks. Meanwhile, deadmau5 took over Sunday’s Worldwide Stage with a nostalgic ‘Retrospective’ set following the debut of NGHTMRE b2b Sullivan King—and even linked up with Pendulum the night before for a surprise b2b with Steve Duda.

After implementing 50 impactful sustainability efforts in 2024, Ultra Music Festival expanded its eco-conscious mission even further this year. The award-winning Mission:Home program returned for its fifth edition, rolling out over 60 green initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and supporting the local community. New to 2025 was the Mission:Home Artist Alliance, which gave performers tools and inspiration to champion sustainability through their platforms and encourage fans to get involved. Ultra also made strides in clean energy by converting two more stages from generator-based power to the city grid, significantly cutting emissions.

One of the most innovative additions this year was a glass recycling program that turned discarded festival glass into usable sand for shoreline restoration and flood defense projects across Florida—proving that even waste can give back to nature.

Continuing its long-standing “Leave No Trace” mission, Ultra teamed up once again with Clean Vibes to manage waste, recycling, and cleanup operations throughout Bayfront Park. Behind the scenes, the Clean Vibes team sorted materials with the ambitious goal of achieving a fifth consecutive year of 100% recycling acceptance—a testament to Ultra’s ongoing leadership in sustainable event production.

As the 25th anniversary of Ultra fades into memory, fans are already looking ahead: Ultra Music Festival 2026 will return to Bayfront Park from Friday, March 27 to Sunday, March 29. If this year proved anything, it’s that Ultra continues to set the global standard for what a music festival can be. Tickets are on sale so scoop yours early now.

All photos courtesy of Alive Coverage.