Miami, FL
As Ultra Music Festival kicks off, Miami residents living nearby are expressing concerns about traffic, noise
As tens of thousands of electronic music fans descend on downtown Miami for the Ultra Music Festival this weekend, some residents living near Bayfront Park say the celebration comes at a cost they bear year after year.
Visitors from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the three-day festival. While organizers and city leaders tout the economic and cultural impact of the event, nearby residents say road closures, limited park access, and high noise levels disrupt daily life in an area that has grown increasingly residential.
“It’s kind of stressful, and it’s definitely an imposition,” said Laura Okamura, who lives along Biscayne Boulevard near the festival grounds. “The people who suffer the most are the people who live at 50 Biscayne.”
Newer residential towers now surround Bayfront Park, a shift neighbors say city leaders and festival organizers must account for as Ultra negotiates its next contract with Miami.
A Miami commissioner visited residents to hear their concerns
District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo visited Okamura’s building Friday night to hear concerns from residents firsthand. He said a public meeting scheduled for April 2 will allow surrounding neighbors to voice their grievances as the city considers the festival’s future.
“It seems doable,” Pardo said. “People really like this event. People in this building, people on the street, enjoy the event, but they also want to be heard. And they want to be sure their basic needs are met.”
Noise remains one of the biggest issues for nearby residents. Colby Leider, a sound engineer, said early-evening readings near the festival hovered between 80 and 85 decibels. Historically, neighbors say volumes increase as the night goes on.
“Eighty-five is a very important number in human hearing,” Leider said. “It’s the level above which exposure begins to potentially cause hearing loss.”
Residents say they want stricter noise controls and traffic mitigation plans written into Ultra’s new agreement with the city. They stress they are not pushing to cancel the festival, but want accommodations that reflect how downtown Miami has changed since Ultra began in the city.
“It’s about understanding how a neighborhood has grown and how an event that has existed for 26 years can harmonize over time,” Pardo said.
Okamura echoed that sentiment, saying neighbors are asking festival organizers to act responsibly. “We are not asking Ultra not to have the concert,” she said. “We are asking them to be a good neighbor. This is our home. This is where we live.”
Representatives from Ultra Music Festival and the Bayfront Park Management Trust are expected to attend the April 2 meeting at 6 p.m. to discuss potential changes to the festival’s contract with the city. The meeting will take place at Live Arts Lab Theater, building 1, room 1101. Ultra Music Festival runs through the weekend at Bayfront Park, with road closures and traffic expected throughout downtown Miami.
The Oregon Ducks come off a chaotic recruiting period in the 2027 cycle, where they hosted official visitors and added to their list of commitments. Coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon staff are simultaneously looking ahead to future recruiting classes.
As the 2027 cycle starts to wind down and the 2028 cycle begins to pick up, the Ducks entered the recruiting sweepstakes for four-star edge rusher Elijah Tillman.
Oregon Ducks in the Mix for Four-Star EDGE Elijah Tillman
Tillman is a 6-7, 210-pound edge rusher from Loganville, Georgia. He’s listed as a consensus four-star recruit and is ranked as high as No. 152 in the class by Rivals.
In a recent interview with Rivals’ Chad Simmons, Tillman revealed that Oregon and the Miami Hurricanes are among the schools that he wants to visit. According to 247Sports, the Ducks offered him back on April 30, 2026, while the Hurricanes extended an offer all the way on January 25, 2025.
Tillman told Rivals that the different schools in the mix are even at the moment, but that Oregon and Miami were two of the schools that he wants to go out and see.
Four-Star Elijah Tillman’s Potential Oregon Ducks Fit
Sports Spring Football | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
With Tillman’s large frame, which still has the opportunity to grow, he would provide the Ducks with size on the edge right away.
The 2027 recruiting class currently features five-star edge rusher Rashad Streets, three-star Achilles Reyna and three-star Josh Christensen at the position. The program prepares for current starters Matayo Uiagelelei and Teitum Tuioti to head to the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the 2026 season, leaving opportunities for the next couple of recruiting classes.
Additionally, the Ducks haven’t earned any commitments from the state of Georgia in their 2027 recruiting class. The last commit Lanning landed from Georgia was Dayton Raiola in the 2026 class, who made his decision on February 4, 2026. Making a big push for Tillman could possibly reignite the program’s recruiting in the Peach State.
Miami Hurricanes vs. Oregon Ducks Recruiting Battle
Miami is the other program that appears to be making a big push early for Tillman. Oregon fans are very familiar with former Ducks coach Mario Cristobal, who took Oregon recruiting to a different level before leading the Hurricanes to the National Championship game last season.
Cristobal and the Hurricanes have battled Lanning and the Ducks for blue-chip recruits more and more over the recent recruiting cycles. Most notably, Miami flipped four-star cornerback Ai’King Hall’s commitment from Oregon earlier in the 2027 cycle.
The two rivals also emerged as finalists for linebacker recruit Jalaythan Mayfield, who ended up choosing the Indiana Hoosiers. Oregon got the best of the Hurricanes once in the 2027 cycle when four-star offensive lineman Gus Corsair committed to the Pacific Northwest program over the Vanderbilt Commodores and Miami.
While the Hurricanes aren’t a Big Ten rival that the Ducks commonly go toe-to-toe with on the field and in the recruiting realm, Cristobal’s role in the recruiting rivalry adds a little bit more fuel to battles for recruits like Tillman.
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The Miami Dolphins will have new starters at their cornerback positions since both Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas are not back with the team. The team drafted Chris Johnson in the first round and it’s pretty likely he’ll have a large role and should claim the one starting spot. The other starting spot should be up for grabs among the rest of the group. Jason Marshall is one of those players who has a better chance of claiming that starting spot after showing some flashes his rookie season. Jeff Hafley has already said he envision Marshall playing on the outside and the second-year corner should get plenty of chances to prove himself during the preseason.
You can check out that story here, and the rest of the day’s round-up below.
Phinsider News You May Have Missed
With Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres’ contract ending in February 2027, school board members are now looking to have his replacement by August.
Dotres has served as the superintendent for the third-largest school district since 2022. The school board started the search for his replacement in April.
More than 20 people applied for the position, but now only six have secured spots as semifinalists.
Here’s a closer look at who Miami-Dade’s superintendent might be:
Jose Bueno
With roughly 33 years of experience within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Bueno currently serves as Dotres’ Chief of Staff.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bueno’s tasks include coordinating and implementing major projects “that have significant district-wide impact on the goals of the district and involve coordination of other divisions and offices.”
He started as a teacher within the country back in 1993 and is a Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University graduate.
Ernie Lozano
Lozano is currently Broward County’s Public Schools Chief Human Resources Officer.
His passion is creating a safe and secure environment for both students and staff.
“He has been recognized for his contributions to the District’s safety and security initiatives, receiving accolades for his exceptional leadership and commitment to student and staff well-being,” according to a bio on the site for the National Student Safety and Security Conference & Workshop.
Before his career in human resources, Lozano served within education as a teacher, assistant principal and more.
Sylvia Mitchell
Hope builder, executive leadership coach and seasoned superintendent are all descriptions Mitchell has on her LinkedIn.
Living in Houston, Texas, Mitchell is familiar with the Sunshine State since she was a principal at Charter Schools USA in Fort Lauderdale back in 2012.
She has also served as superintendent twice in Texas and is currently Executive Vice President, Curriculum, Design & Development for Per Scholars.
Carlos Perez
Perez is a charter school principal in West Palm Beach and the former executive director of the Education Reform Project, a nonprofit organization based in Miami Beach.
According to the nonprofit, Perez has over 25 years of experience within education, mainly in New York, but now in Florida.
Perez has also been an assistant superintendent in the past, as well as taking part as an Executive Board Member for the New York State Association of School Personnel Administrators.
Christopher Ruszkowski
Currently based in South Carolina as CEO of South Carolina’s Children’s Fund, Ruszkowski has moved all over the country, and Florida will be no exception.
According to his LinkedIn, he served as New Mexico’s Secretary of Education back in 2019. Before living in South Carolina, he was a conservator for the Texas Education Agency. A conservator oversees the state’s takeovers of large school districts and charter school networks.
Getting his master’s at Stanford, Ruszkowski was a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institute located within the university.
Rafael Villalobos
Since 2022, Villalobos has been the South Region Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Before that, he was a principal for over ten years.
The Nova Southeastern alum has been in Miami for most of his life, even graduating from South Miami Senior High School in 1990.
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