By now, dear readers, you may have figured out I’m a sucker for a good festival. It keeps me young-ish.

Ultra Music Festival dropped the Phase 2 lineup for its 36th installment from March 27–29, 2026and the message is unmistakable: she’s also getting better and more ambitious with age. More than 70 new additions will descend upon The Miami Bayfront’s already stacked bill, including big-swing back-to-backs, debuts fans have been waiting for, and a sharper underground presence that pushes this year’s edition into music’s evolving territories.

The headline-grabber is immediate: Alesso b2b Martin Garrix, a one-time-only engineered collaboration for peak mainstage mayhem. Ultra knows the power of a true exclusive, and this one feels like the tentpole moment that shapes the entire Friday night. But Phase 2 doesn’t stop at spectacle. Fresh debuts like Argy b2b Mind Against, arriving as a world-premiere melodic-techno crossover, show Ultra is paying just as much attention to nuance as it is to fireworks and confetti canons.

Debuts, Big Swings & Sets Built For Die-Hards

Ultra leans deeper into experimentation this year. Sets from VOYD, high-octane duos, and a slate of artists steering techno, house, and hard-dance into heavier lanes give the festival the kind of texture longtime fans crave. The middle tier of the lineup shows Ultra’s intent loud and clear. Crossover dance-pop and festival staples like Afrojack, Alan Walker, and Illenium ensure the main stage stays bright and melodic, while a surprising influx of underground and after-hours talent hints at a more global mindset.

And this is where the Ibiza thread weaves itself in. Phase 2 adds the kind of artists who have shaped the island’s sound for the last decade—The Martinez Brothers, Jamie Jones, Joseph Capriati, ANNA, and others whose grooves have become synonymous with marathon sets at Hï, Amnesia, DC-10, and Ushuaïa. While most have spun sets at UMF over the years, the scale of their inclusion this year shows Ultra leaning into a late-night sensibility and this particular music scribe’s joie de vivre (Anyone with me? Comment below!).

Capriati brings the big-room techno authority; The Martinez Brothers bring that slick, fast, swaggering house; Jones brings his special brand of Paradise that keeps crowds glued to the floor. It’s just enough Balearic energy to elevate the weekend without turning Ultra into a club-festival hybrid.

The Miami Music Week Effect

What makes Ultra even more baller (perhaps the ballerist) is that it serves as the crown jewel of another totemic party mess, Miami Music Week, the seven-day marathon where every pool, rooftop, hotel ballroom, and backroom becomes a stage. By the time Ultra gates open at Bayfront Park, the city has already been vibrating for days with label takeovers, unannounced sets, sunrise parties on South Beach, and artist pop-ins that pull fans across the city like magnets. This author has definitely lost her voice, and her phone (a few times) at this juncture.

This may just be logistics, and yet, it feels like UMF’s lineup is designed with MMW’s ecosystem in mind, and vice versa. A-list Ibiza and European club acts flying in tend to anchor their week with multiple appearances, so Ultra becomes the finale. Meanwhile, surprise B2Bs and world premieres in the lineup practically guarantee that half the artists will test-drive new material during Music Week’s club shows before unleashing it on Ultra’s stages. It’s a feedback loop that keeps Miami buzzing long after the festival ends. Find out more information here.

Don’t forget protection. Meaning earplugs, obviously.