Ultra Beach

Gold Coast, Qld - 12/04/24

The Gold Coast turned on a picture-perfect day for the very first ULTRA Beach, a slimmed-down version of the traditional ULTRA Australia Festival, and what a day it was!!!. Ultra Beach took up residency at the Broadwater Parklands along the beautiful Queensland coastline on the 12th of April and although this was a Friday, the grounds were filled to capacity with a happy and excited montage of people from a wide-ranging demographic that included international visitors. Shout-out to the three lads who travelled all the way from Ireland to celebrate one of the cohort’s 30th Birthday ULTRA style.

The Lineup:

The roster for ULTRA Beach was a who’s who of EDM Heavyweights and when a name like Will Sparks is listed as a “support” you know some BIG names are playing. For some of the Artists like Darren Styles, it was their first time playing in Australia while for others like ZEDD and Brennan Heart, they were grateful to be behind the deck on our shores once again. All the acts play a bevy of tracks that included original pieces as well as remixed versions of other popular songs, Armin Van Buuren and Steve Aoki even dropped some brand new pieces that are in the release process. Everyone who took to the stage exuded energy in high volumes, engaged with the crowd, and heaped praise and thanks on the organisers for their efforts. It’s not often you can not find any holes or weak links in a lineup, ULTRA Beach had no weak links!!

Food & Drinks & Ammenities

Two large bars serviced the needs of the thirsty with a decent selection of drinks available and food-wise patrons were spoilt. A smorgasbord of food options were on offer with all tastes and dietary requirements considered, with everything from Gelato to Pizza, Doughnuts to Teppanyaki Noodles, Mexican Streetfood to Dumplings, Wings to Brazillian BBQ as well as the standard Hot Chips, Burgers and Hot Dogs. Free Water stations were also accessible at several locations on site with paper cups provided for those who didn’t have drink bottles.

Attendees had the use of Phone charging stations, a Medical Tent, a cloakroom, and two large banks of portaloos at each end of the festival site. Haven also had a tent set up which offered free sunscreen, crowd care, lost property deposit or collection, accesibility support, mirrors and a small selection of makeup for those that needed a top-up.

Merch & VIP

The Merchandise stand was well stocked with items for all weather situations with a range of basketball singlets and Hoodies both for sale as well as the traditional event shirts. Something that doesn’t happen at all events was the size selection with the very tiny to the large all catered for. Ultra light up glasses and a couple of other self-illuminating items were on sale which added to that traditional EDM festival feel and made the audience a sea of colour once day turned to night.

VIP ticket holders were treated to an exclusive lanyard & hat upon entry as well as a large private area that had its own bar, Tables & Chairs with shady umbrellas and a bunch of toilets that were frequently topped up with all they needed to service the patrons in the secured area as well as a good view of the stage and large LCD screens.

Ultra Beach can be described as nothing short of a smashing success, especially given the current festival crisis in this country. This event was curated spot on, the festival delivered exactly what it promised, had enough of everything so no one missed out and things flowed effortlessly. From the transition of artists to acquiring food with only a short wait time (a miracle at a festival these days) there seemed to be little if any delay. Even with its minimized size, Ultra Beach is definitely an event we would attend again, and if I’m honest I think it worked extremely well, if not better. I’m not saying that the traditional 3 stage format doesn’t work, Melbourne sold out too, but maybe the powers that be may consider breaking it down to a three-day event with a stage-a-day kind of approach. Either way ULTRA will certainly be a contender for festival of the year (as always) this brand knows what it is doing and does it far superior to most.

A huge thank you goes to Ultra Australia, Ultra Music Festival, Karen from Identity PR and the Finders Keepers Group for having us along. See you all next year!!

Full Photo Gallery: https://musicfestivalsaustralia.com/new-blog/ultrabeach2024

ULTRA Beach 2024