While music festivals are fun, colorful, and sexy, there’s always the uglier underside that comes with shipping in almost 100k people into a city to party. Unless you live under a rock, you know that this weekend was Ultra Music Festival, which is one of the largest music festivals in the US. Unfortunately, things did not go off with 100% perfection but the statistics are relatively mild for a festival of its size and nature. This year, Ultra saw 29 felony arrests and 38 misdemeanor arrests, totaling 67.
However, this year also saw the unfortunate death of a University of Miami student and the troubling reports of a Metromover raping an incapacitated attendee after the festival. The 25-year-old woman was heavily intoxicated and denied boarding on the metrorail for her own safety, and later, witnesses say they saw the supervisor carry the unconscious woman into a utility room.
However even with all of this, Ultra had a much smaller crime report than California’s Beyond Wonderland going on during the same weekend. The San Bernadino County Sheriffs report that there were 244 arrests over the course of the weekend. Additionally, the Sheriff reported 20 hospitalizations with each patient being released. Above all, these stories are reminders to be weary of yourselves during these long and crazy festival weekends so that you can happily rave another day.
