MIAMI — The 26th edition of the Ultra Music Festival just wrapped up over the weekend, drawing more than 150,000 partygoers — and leaving behind less of an impact than ever before.
That’s thanks to Ultra’s aggressive sustainability mission, now in its seventh year, aimed at leaving Bayfront Park better than it was found and reducing the festival’s footprint.
After the music stopped and the crowds went home, organizers say the event left less of a trace than in years past.
“We work with partners that are very committed to making sure that we leave no trace on this park, that we are cleaning to heightened standards and leave this park better than we found it,” said Vivian Belzaguy Hunter, Ultra’s director of sustainability.
The effort is part of Mission: Home, Ultra’s sustainability program launched in 2019 when the festival temporarily moved to the environmentally sensitive Virginia Key. The city of Miami required the event to take extra care of the area.
“They were asked for about 13 initiatives that year, and we came back and delivered 20 initiatives,” Belzaguy Hunter said.
Those initiatives include waste diversion, reducing single-use plastics and proactive litter cleanup to prevent environmental contamination.
“Since 2019, we’ve diverted almost 400,000 pounds of waste,” she said. “We have nine different diversion streams that we separate on site, and that starts all the way from load-in through load-out.”
That includes aggressive recycling and composting, along with requiring food vendors to use only compostable packaging — no plastics allowed.
“All of that stuff is going in the compost, all of the recyclables, cans, water bottles are going in the recycling, and there’s very little left to go in the landfill,” she said.
Over the past seven years, Mission: Home has grown from 20 initiatives to 65, ranging from shoreline cleanups and storm drain protection to tree planting and wildlife protection.
“When it comes to sustainability, we want to continue doing it better. We want to continue, you know, challenging ourselves to bring it back in a way that continues to impress,” Belzaguy Hunter said.
This year, Ultra also tackled its carbon footprint by powering the Cove Stage with high-tech batteries.
“It’s considered a smart grid system, so it’s charged by the grid, but it is boosting the ability for the grid to power a stage of that scale. And it was successful. It went off without a hitch,” she said.
Ultra partnered with Showpower to use zero-emission battery technology, replacing generators that would have burned six to seven gallons of fuel per hour.
“We can prove already that powering a stage with battery is even more reliable than the diesel generator, but we need to convince people so they can see, they can feel and now they believe it,” said Paul Schurink with Showpower.
The goal is to expand that technology to other stages, as festivalgoers take notice.
“Oh, they love it. It’s really something that feels like it has shifted our culture,” Belzaguy Hunter said. “You really see it in action when people come onto the festival, because the grounds stay much cleaner than they ever did before.”
Mission: Home has earned eight awards and honors from local and global organizations, including a recent proclamation from Miami-Dade County recognizing Ultra’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and community impact.
“I’m so, so proud,” she said. “We really take it very seriously to take care of this park and the bay and our community.”
It’s still a party — but protecting the planet is part of the experience.
“I think what Ultra is doing is setting an example for what’s possible,” she said. “If Ultra can do it, anyone can do it.”
Ultra also donates leftover food from each day of the festival to the homeless at Miami Rescue Mission and gives unused building materials a second life, working to leave no trace and keep as much waste as possible out of landfills.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.