Ultra Music Festival 2025: The Return Of Skrillex, The World Debut Of Anyma & More

Photo Credit: Ultra Music FestivalUltra Music Festival concluded its sold-out 25th anniversary celebration at Bayfront Park – a legacy defining weekend from Friday, March 28 – Sunday, March 30 that paid homage to the festival’s iconic history while further cementing Ultra as the World’s Premier Electronic Music Festival.

Over three days, the festival welcomed 165,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. Friday’s highlights included a history-making moment during Afrojack’s electrifying Main Stage headlining set, when he brought out surprise guests David Guetta and Sia to perform their multi-platinum global hit “Titanium” together—live for the first time ever. David Guetta and Sia then stayed on the stage to close out the set with the live debut of their new collaborative song, “Beautiful People.” Marking Sia’s first-ever electronic music festival performance, the moment showcased three artists who helped shape the landscape of both electronic and pop music coming together at Ultra 2025, reaffirming the festival’s role as the global stage where history is made.

Other Friday highlights include Everything Always – the collaborative project between John Summit and Dom Dolla – closing down the Main Stage for the duo’s Ultra debut; Subtronics bringing his bass-heavy sound to the Ultra Main Stage for a daylight headlining set; and Ultra veterans Tiësto and Alesso pulling devoted fans’ nostalgia strings with headlining Main Stage sets filled to the brim with their classic tracks. The two dance music legends also came with special surprises, with Tiësto premiering a new collaboration with Odd Mob and Alesso bringing out iconic vocalist Nadia Ali for a guest appearance.

Photo Credit: Ultra Music Festival

RESISTANCE – ULTRA Worldwide’s esteemed house and techno brand – featured a weekend full of underground performances, including Charlotte De Witte’s Friday closing set at the RESISTANCE Megastructure, which followed jaw-dropping sets from Boris Brejcha, ARTBAT, and Miss Monique. At the RESISTANCE Cove Stage, Eli Brown performed a widely heralded, two-hour house and techno bonanza for his Friday closing headlining set.

Meanwhile, over on the Worldwide Stage’s Friday programming (which featured A State Of Trance takeover), Armin van Buuren played two of his three Ultra 2025 headlining sets – one solo set before an epic b3b with Maddix and Oliver Heldens. At the Live Stage, Zeds Dead shut down Friday night with the Ultra debut of their ‘Return To The Spectrum Of Intergalactic Happiness’ set, which followed Pendlum’s first live set at Ultra since 2022 and performances from Chase & Status and Nero..

The 25th anniversary event continued on Saturday with a star-studded lineup across eight stages. Skrillex returned to Ultra’s Main Stage for his first solo performance since 2015 with a medley of surprise special guests, including UK rap legend Flowdan, four-time GRAMMY-winning reggaeton icon Damian Marley, Puerto Rican singer and rapper Young Miko, and Naisha for her first-ever live performance.

Photo Credit: Ultra Music Festival

Additional highlights from Saturday’s Main Stage included an illustrious closing set filled with unreleased music from Ultra veteran Hardwell. In a historical moment, Ultra ushered in the world debut of Anyma b2b Solomun on the Main Stage. Armin van Buuren’s set consisted of all original music including a brand-new remix for 50 Cent. Additionally, Axwell performed a solo set for the first time since 2019, teasing IDs from Swedish House Mafia.

Over on the RESISTANCE Structure, Carl Cox hosted his first ever Ultra ‘Carl Cox Invites’ stage takeover – another milestone moment amongst many in a long-standing collaboration between the festival and techno legend. The stage takeover featured headlining sets from Richie Hawtin (who brought his revolutionary live show ‘DEX EFX X0X’ to Ultra for the very first time), Adam Beyer, and a Saturday closing set from Cox, who debuted his brand new ‘Evolution’ live show.

Saturday also featured other groundbreaking headlining sets, including the world debut of deadmau5 b2b Pendulum, and performances from Gessafelstein, KSHMR ‘The LIve Experience,’ and Masano b2b Chris Avantgarde. Over on the UMF Radio Stage, Ultra hosted its first ever psytrance stage takeover in collaboration with Vini Vici’s Alteza label.

Sunday wrapped up Ultra Music Festival’s 25th anniversary in historic fashion, hosting Martin Garrix for his first ever Sunday Main Stage closing set. During his performances, Garrix brought out Armin van Buuren to premiere a new collaboration before becoming the first artist to ever close out Ultra Music Festival with their own live vocals. Sunday’s Main Stage also hosted headlining performances from Zedd, Gryffin, a surprise set from Kaskade, and a special guest-laden set from Steve Aoki, who brought out Trippie Redd, Swae Lee, Mike Posner, Marnik, and Jessica Baio.

Building on the 50 sustainability initiatives successfully executed in 2024, Ultra’s award-winning Mission:Home program is returned for its fifth iteration with over 60 initiatives focused on pollution prevention, nature preservation, waste reduction, climate action, and community engagement. A few of this year’s new efforts included the launch of the Mission:Home Artist Alliance, empowering Ultra artists to embrace sustainability with resources and fan-driven initiatives, as well as transitioning two additional stages from generator to grid power. Additionally, nature-based glass recycling transformed the festival glass waste into sand for coastal restoration and flood mitigation in Florida. As part of their long-established “Leave No Trace” and recycling initiatives, Ultra once again partnered with Clean Vibes to keep grounds clean and sort waste behind the scenes, with the goal of reaching 100% recycling acceptance for the fifth year in a row.

The post Ultra Music Festival 2025: The Return Of Skrillex, The World Debut Of Anyma & More appeared first on Haute Living.