MIAMI (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Next year's Ultra Music Festival, one of the leading EDM festivals in the U.S. will be getting a little more expensive for anyone who didn't get up enough for an early-bird ticket.
According to the Miami Herald, the $149.95 early bird tickets for the 2014 edition of the long-running festival, which isn't until March of next year sold out in just minutes when they were released back in May. A second round of advanced tickets went on sale immediately afterwards for $274.95 and also went within minutes. Now, anyone wanting to attend the fest will need to shell out $504.95. (including service charge and shipping), while VIP tickets are $849.95.
The prices drew the ire of some fans, who took to social media to complain.
“I’ve been to UMF Miami five times,” Matthew Agramonte, of Kendall wrote. “Next year, I won’t be going. Ultra is isolating its fan base that simply can’t afford outrageous prices. What was once a great experience is a ripoff and a great shame.”
Another Ultra fan tweeted “I would rather rent a house with all my friends and go to EDC in Orlando than spend $500 on an Ultra ticket.”
The festival, which expanded to two weekends last year, responded with a press release that noted that the cost of the tickets has remained stable for the past two years and noted that the primary driver of the new prices is the city, which owns Bayfest Park, the festival site.
“To ensure the premium quality and evolution of Ultra’s groundbreaking stage productions and artist lineups, while continuing to meet the ever increasing financial demands of city related expenses associated with producing this massive festival in the heart of an urban metropolis, this price increase was unfortunately necessary,” a spokesman for Ultra wrote in the statement. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
