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The Activity, TAG and Elation light up Ultra Miami’s 25th anniversary

In March 2025, the world’s biggest names in electronic music came together in Miami to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ultra Music Festival. The three-day event was held at Bayfront Park and included Main Stage performances by Dom Dolla and John Summit, Alesso, Afrojack, Tiesto, Hardwell, Skrillex, Armin van Buuren, Zedd, Martin Garrix, and others.

Tasked with managing the technical design of Ultra’s Main Stage were Patrick Dierson and the team at The Activity, who worked alongside lighting partner TAG. “We knew going into it that this show had to be special”, says Dierson. “Given that it was Ultra’s 25th anniversary, the pressure to deliver a great show was definitely looming.” Anchored by 120 Pulse Bar L, 40 Pulse Bar S, and 132 Proteus Hybrid from Elation, the stage design - led by Ultra’s Creative Director Richard Milstein - emphasized clean lines and layered depth.

“The overall look was arguably a cleaner and sleeker design than ever before”, says Dierson. “It was very well dispersed both left to right as well as back to front, which gave a significant amount of visual depth; more so than we have been able to attain in years past.” Another feature he says that was welcomed by all involved was in limiting the number of fixture types down to a total of five. “This just makes everything easier, specifically cloning on the console; a feature that our guest LDs live and die by in the festival world.”

The Pulse Bar and Proteus Hybrid did the heavy lifting and were dispersed across the stage. “The Pulse Bars in particular were utilized as our main point source fixture, outwardly facing the audience and, in a rather prestigious spot for every Ultra design, they helped to form Ultra’s iconic ‘U’ mounted at the top center of the stage structure”, explains Dierson, adding that they also defined the set’s geometric octagon backdrop throughout the weekend. The Proteus Hybrids, meanwhile, cast “monumental” beams that reached skyward and dazzled across crowd and stage alike.

Throughout the three-day festival, with so many guest artist teams getting a chance to operate the rig, it was inevitable to see some spectacular cueing. For one memorable moment during Everything Always’ set, Creative Director Ben Dalgleish and LD Kasper Iseger of Human Person crafted a striking visual by slowly peeling the Proteus Hybrids from their audience focus toward the stage. The beams ultimately landed in a focus that staggered them horizontally across the stage upwards toward the “U” at the top center of the structure. The result was akin to a massive pyramid of light beams that highlighted the iconic symbol and stretched straight up into the night sky.

“It was one of those brief moments of time that was seemingly innocuous when focusing but ultimately created such a beautiful image”, says Dierson. “You tend to get a lot of those throughout the weekend and they’re usually in those moments of musical calmness when everything stops frantically blinking and flashing.” Then there was Skrillex where LD Jaycob Luque twisted the same rig into something more sinister and playful, transforming the “U” into a devilish smiley made entirely of Pulse Bars with Hybrid support. As EDM shows of this size require a massive amount of data to be delivered, Netron nodes from Obsidian Control Systems were used.

The Activity’s role, now firmly embedded in the DNA of Ultra Miami after over a decade of involvement, has evolved into the ultimate backstage conductor - coordinating technical teams, guest artist requirements, scheduling, pre-vis sessions, syncing artist logistics, and making sure everything (and everyone) hits their mark. “It gets quite complex very quickly and the entire process remains kinetic up until the last day of the festival”, shares Dierson. “It’s a sort of controlled chaos, which is where I like to think The Activity team thrives.” He adds that “praise goes to the TAG team who really went out of their way to make the rig as programming-friendly as possible. This marked their third year handling the Main Stage and the experience of having undergone the two prior really showed.”

Crew included: Grant Davis (VJ Technical Liaison), Kevin Mignone (TAG Lead), Russ Felton (TAG Crew Chief), John Flanagan (FOH Lighting Technical Lead), John Volpe (FOH Video Technical Lead), Neil Rosenstock (Audio Lead), Luis Torez (SFX Lead), Ash Ali (Stage Manager), and Ray Steinman (Technical Producer).

(Photos: Ultra Music Festival)

www.elationlighting.com

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