BAYFRONT PARK

There were balloons. A performer on stilts shot a smoke cannon. Another performer was twirling fire batons. It was all part of a couple’s wedding anniversary overlooking Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami.

The beats have been blaring at Bayfront Park all weekend.

As tens of thousands of partiers packed the streets at Bayfront Park for the 23rd annual Ultra Music Festival in Miami, authorities say that over a dozen people were hospitalized on night one.

As Miami prepares to pump up the volume this weekend for the Ultra Music Festival, the city of Miami Beach is trying to tamp down large crowds. It’s being taken to court over a liquor curfew.

Miami is preparing to welcome about 170,000 electronic dance music fans from around the world in just two days for a festival that organizers say will have a nearly $200 million economic impact in the area.

After a massive celebration for the ringing in of 2022 that included more than 100,000 attendees, the Bayfront Park New Year’s Eve announced Wednesday that it will make its return to the City of Miami in 2023.

After a massive celebration for the ringing in of 2022 that included more than 100,000 attendees, the Bayfront Park New Year’s Eve announced Wednesday that it will make its return to the City of Miami in 2023.

The Ultra Music Festival will call Bayfront Park “home” every March for the next five years. Ultra signing a new deal to keep the festival where it is until 2027.

With gas prices on the rise and avoiding the hassle of driving in and out of Miami, Tri-Rail has partnered with the Ultra Music Festival to offer train services for the event.

The cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale are putting the finishing touches on outdoor festivities to ring in 2022 despite the pandemic still swirling.

While many crowd-drawing celebrations are being canceled due to the omicron variant, the show is on at Miami's Bayfront Park to ring in the New Year.

Commissioner and Chairman of the Bayfront Park Management Trust Joe Carollo is hosting a press conference about the City of Miami New Year’s Eve celebration at Bayfront Park.

The More Than Pink walk returned to Bayfront Park for an in-person event this year after it was held virtually in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 19-year-old college student was killed in Orlando earlier this month.

Miami police arrested a 22-year-old woman early Monday morning who they said left her 15-month-old son inside an SUV that was parked outside the amphitheater at Bayfront Park.

It's a freedom rally event not only for Cuba, but Venezuela and Nicaragua as well.

A Miami commissioner and local activists met Wednesday at Miami City Hall to announce an upcoming public rally to send a message to the White House.

MIAMI, Fla. – Ten new American citizens took the oath of allegiance on Wednesday in the shadow of an appropriate piece of artwork in Bayfront Park with a Vatican connection. The sculpture, Angels Unawares, will be at Bayfront Park through April 7 and on Wednesday, it was the backdrop for a citizenship ceremony. On September 2019, the large bronze of Angels Unawares was installed in St. Peter’s Square Rome and the smaller bronze was installed in St. Paul’s Basilica, Rome. In the shadow of Miami’s Freedom Tower and the faces of the bronze “Angels,” Colombian born Nicolas Cabrera was sworn in as an American. The sculpture arrived in Bayfront Park on Feb. 9 after stops in Boston, New York and Atlanta, before coming to Miami.

MIAMI – The three-day Ultra Music Festival will likely be canceled again this year, and organizers are planning ahead for UMF 2022 at Bayfront Park in Miami, Billboard reported on Friday. Organizers of the annual electronic music dance festival didn’t host the show last year, as the deadly coronavirus was starting to spread in Miami-Dade County during the beginning of the pandemic. UMF organizers committed to making sure the tickets that thousands of people from around the world purchased for Miami’s UMF 2020 were valid for a future event, but they have yet to release details. The festival was last held in 2019 at Miami’s Virginia Key and attendees complained about logistical issues with transportation. For more information about the status of UMF in Miami, visit the organizer’s website to sign up for updates.

MIAMI – Ron Book greeted homeless men and women on Thursday at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. The chairman of the Homeless Trust in Miami-Dade County asked them if they knew temperatures are going to drop to the 40s this weekend. Brook activated a plan to provide transportation and emergency shelter until it gets warmer again on Sunday in Miami. “It’s going to be very cold in our community.”A homeless man rests at Bayfront Park on Thursday in downtown Miami. The Homeless Trust had been able to place 90 homeless people in shelters by Thursday afternoon.

MIAMI Miami police are searching for a man who they said attacked an officer last month during a protest against racial injustice near Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. According to Officer Kiara Delva, who is a spokeswoman for the Police Department, an officer was arresting another subject during the June 10 protest on Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast Fourth Street when a man ran up to the officer while he was on the ground and struck him in the head with a skateboard. According to Delva, the officer suffered head pains following the incident. Authorities said a police vehicle was also damaged during the protest. Officer Michael Vega told Local 10 News last month that three people were wanted for the vandalism.

MIAMI The daily coronavirus numbers released by Florida Department of Health showed another record amount of positive cases on Saturday. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez spoke to Local 10 about the staggering rise in new COVID-19 cases. We want to start to bring that positive rate down, said Gimenez. Thats the key to the whole thing.The latest numbers showing Florida with 9,585 new cases, with Miami-Dade alone reporting 1,366. For us, its very difficult to control congregations, said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

MIAMI – Miami-Dade Chief Assistant State Attorney Don Horn took to the podium on Sunday to sing “Lean On Me” at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. Arthur Jackson, of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, said he and members of his church showed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement because they were inspired by Rev. Our community truly wants and needs this.”Sybrina Fulton participates in a pray march on Sunday in downtown Miami. Calvary Baptist Church, the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, the Grace Baptist Church, the Friendship Baptist Church and the New Life Church of Carol City.

At one point, City of Miami police officers rode by on bikes and the Law and Order cheered loudly in the direction of the riders. The demonstration was organized in response to widespread, and much larger, Black Lives Matter protests that have sprung up all over South Florida and throughout the country. Evelio Medina, who founded the group Law Abiding Citizens Coalition, was the organizer of Sundays Law and Order rally. While several people at the Law and Order rally were wearing clothing bearing the Proud Boys name, most of the demonstrators were not. There were also a few loud, verbal exchanges when a small group of BLM protesters marched through the Law and Order rally.

MIAMI, Fla. – The protesters began in downtown with dozens gathering at the Torch of Friendship in Bayfront Park. A Haitian band, the Koncious Kontractors, was founded by a Francois Alexandre who said he was beaten by Miami police officers seven years ago. From the, the now larger group went to Wynwood with more marching and dancing to a Haitian Rara Band. He told the group: "Don't surround the car, let me put myself in harm's way for you." The statue of Haitian General Toussan Louverture where the nearly eight-mile journey came to an end.

Two groups of protesters converged and marched through the streets of Miami Saturday during another weekend of demonstrations. Dozens soon turned into hundreds of protesters as they marched for hours, spending much of their time in the Wynwood neighborhood. A drive-in peace rally at the Northside SDA Church, on NW 119th Street, drew more than 100 cars to the church’s parking lot. In Broward County, protests in Lauderhill, Pompano Beach, and Lauderdale Lakes went on peacefully. More rallies are planned in both counties for Sunday including a counter-protest in Miami by a group called the Law Abiding Citizens’ Coalition.

MIAMI, Fla. – Evelio Mendina wants to spread a message of peace. On Friday, he stood at the base of a statue of Christopher Columbus, one of two in downtown Miami that were defaced by protesters on Wednesday. Basically, there’s room for everybody, as long as it’s peaceful.”Medina founded his own group called the Law Abiding Citizens’ Coalition. It is one of the reasons he decided to hold his own counter-protest at Bayfront Park on Sunday. Protesters said they targeted it because of Columbus’ history of terrorizing and enslaving Native Americans.

MIAMI – Dozens of protesters met Friday afternoon at the Torch of Friendship at Bayfront Park and marched for hours through downtown Miami and Brickell. Protesters march on a ramp from Miami Avenue toward Interstate 95 southbound on Friday evening in downtown Miami. (SKY 10)About 7:45 p.m., the protesters marched on Interstate 95′s southbound ramp from Miami Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard. (SKY 10)Before marching on I-95 and blocking the Brickell Avenue Bridge, they marched peacefully to the Miami-Dade County Courthouse in downtown Miami. (SKY10)As a precaution, Florida Highway Patrol troopers closed I-95 in both directions from Florida State Road 112 to U.S. 1.

This year, organizers were expecting EDM fans from more than 100 countries to invade the park March 20-22. Officials in Miami looking into postponing Ultra Music Festival as coronavirus fears growUMF organizers also decided to cancel this week’s annual Abu Dhabi event. The decisions will also be affecting EDM music stars David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Marshmello, The Chainsmokers and many more. Michelle Pagnanon was demanding that Ultra Music Festival give EDM fans the option to get a refund. Guests attend Ultra Music Festival 2016 on March 18, 2016 in Miami, Florida.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, said that although there is “no specific or credible threat,” federal agents will be doing everything in their power to protect Super Bowl LIV fans in Miami-Dade County. Federal agents know Hard Rock Stadium, the home of Sunday’s Super Bowl, in Miami Gardens, NFL events in downtown Miami and Miami Beach, and airports in South Florida are desirable targets. “We are spreading out are assets to take care of business, not only at the Super Bowl, but at all those other locations as well,” said Todd Gayle, an air and marine team agent for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. On Wednesday, FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said FAA no drone zone violations during the Super Bowl “will result in both civil and potential criminal penalties.”The 2020 Miami Super Bowl LIV host committee is promoting the SaferWatch app to empower users to submit tips for law enforcement. “I would say the things that you’re looking for in general is anybody whose behavior just seems out of the ordinary, anybody asking unusual questions about security or observing security procedures," said Cathy Lanier, the chief security officer for the NFL.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Federal Aviation Administration is warning fliers of hobbyist drones to comply with temporary “No Drone Zones” in Miami-Dade County or face penalties of more than $30,000. The temporary flight restrictions are in effect in areas of South Beach, downtown Miami and Miami Gardens, where there are National Football League events during Super Bowl LIV week. The ban applies to one nautical mile around the Miami Beach Convention Center, at 1901 Convention Center Dr., and Bayfront Park, at Biscayne Blvd., and it is in place until Saturday. On Sunday, the FAA is prohibiting drones around the Hard Rock Stadium, at 347 Don Shula Dr.

Neon” Carpenter was asked to design what’s become an icon for New Year’s Eve, Big Orange, he thought sheet aluminum was the way to go. This will be the 34th year of raising the Big Orange since Carpenter designed and built the 30-foot-tall icon, which climbs 400 feet to the top of Miami’s InterContinental Hotel to ring in Miami’s New Year 2020. The Big Orange is the star of the countdown to midnight at Bayfront Park’s south end. The New Year’s Eve icon slowly ascends the side of the InterContinental Hotel, reaching the top at midnight with a fireworks display capping it off. Packages from $295 to $495 get you gourmet food, a champagne toast and a chance to be a Mr. Worldwide VIP.

MIAMI – Florida Power & Light’s goal to install 30 million solar panels in the state by 2030 will add 500 to its growing tally at Miami’s Bayfront Park. The popular downtown Miami concert venue took another green step forward as it began a project to install 500 solar panels that would help to power all events hosted at the venue Wednesday. “It’ll provide some shade and it’ll be something every concert-goer will look at and say wow look at this nice city,” FPL spokeswoman Marie Bertot said. The panels will use a new bifacial technology that serves as power source and energy absorption, and will also provide research for the power company. As for FPL’s 2030 efforts, the company says they are on track to meet the aggressive goal.

MIAMI, Fla. – One day after Thanksgiving, Christmas music is filling the air at Bayfront Park this holiday season. The park will become one of Miami’s most iconic offerings by setting up as a holiday village starting Friday, Nov. 29. The Holiday Village features a collection of more than 50 local vendors, a waterfront skating rink around the Claude Pepper Fountain, and Bayfront Bites where you can grab food and a drink, and an area to relax with live entertainment. Jess Dalton of Saucy Lips Foods, can’t wait for village shoppers to arrive. Festivities officially kick off Saturday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. with a tree lighting ceremony at 7:30 p.m.Bayfront Park’s Holiday Village, 301 Biscayne Blvd., will be on site through Christmas Day.

MIAMI - The annual Ultra Music Festival pulled its own plug after its move to Virginia Key in March, and it's officially moving back to Bayfront Park. But the former head of the Park Trust was not happy with having Bayfront Park as an option again for Ultra. The trust now has rules placing limits on private events held at Bayfront Park. Carollo and Russell, who represents downtown Miami residents, were the only two commissioners who voted against bringing Ultra back to Bayfront Park. Some were thrilled with the festival's return to Bayfront Park.

MIAMI - The annual Ultra Music Festival pulled its own plug after its move to Virginia Key in March, and attempts to get it back to Bayfront Park are hitting some sour notes at Thursday night's commission meeting. The money and panache of the iconic Miami-born global music festival is still a lure. But the former head of the Park Trust was not happy with having Bayfront Park as an option again for Ultra. The trust now has rules placing limits on private events held at Bayfront Park. The music festival has numerous partnerships and political connections, but it remains to be seen whether it will have enough votes to return to Bayfront Park.

Preparations are underway at Bayfront Park for the annual fireworks display in Fort Lauderdale Beach to celebrate the Fourth of July.