Ultra Music Festival announced it has acquired Winter Music Conference during a press conference in Miami Wednesday morning. WMC co-founder Bill Kelly will remain on hand to continue his vision for the conferece.
“WMC will allow veterans and newcomers alike to develop themselves and their organizations to become competitive players in the industry,” says UMF Marketing and New Media Manager Albert Berdellans. “We are very excited to contribute to the vision of Miami as a hub of entertainment, culture and business.”
Only weeks ago, media outlets speculated as to whether the long-running conference would see a 33rd edition in 2018. The week-long event had seen waning attendance in recent years, but WMC announced it would return as a three-day event in the days leading to Ultra Miami at the end of Miami Music Week.
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Kelly says he’s excited about the partnership and that it was really a long time coming.
“A couple years ago, we revisited the idea of coming together,” Kelly says. “At that point the Amsterdam Dance Event and International Music Summit in Ibiza had formed over the course of the last five years or so, but Ibiza is a very small island, it’s very expensive, and it’s not easily available to businesses and fans. Over the years, the significance of WMC slightly diminished because of those, so to bring (attention) back to Miami, this acquisition was necessary.”
Berdellans also announced that UMF would expand into China with Ultra Beijing, June 16 and 17 of 2018, as well as Shanghai in September. Tickets are on sale at UMFChina.com. Ultra now hosts 47 events and festivals in 24 countries across six continents.
