I have some mixed feelings about this year’s Ultra SA, so I will talk about them from both views. First is if it was your first Ultra SA and second view is if you have attended Ultra SA before.
If this was your first Ultra SA, wow what a blast it was. Especially if you entered from gate 5-6, you would have seen the Samsung Galaxy Experience Stage, which was perfectly positioned to attract crowds as they walked in. From there you would have seen the Until Until Stage and the Main Stage. Between all that, there were food and beer stands. If you explored a bit more, you would have also found the Resistance Stage. The overall experience from when you walk in, amazing. Ultra SA seems to bring out the best in DJs and also all the activations taking place are amazing. The other Samsung setup facing the Main Stage was also cool. The only thing you would have hated is that you didn’t have a clone because you wanted to be at more than 1 stage at the same time.
If this was your second Ultra, then you would have had a different experience. The Resistance Stage seemed hidden this time around by the containers placed on the side, I also got asked “Where is the Soul Candi Stage” a few times because people are more familiar with it, over the Resistance Stage. The Main Stage looked different, I wouldn’t lie about that, this year’s layout looked cleaner and the screens above the DJ created a beautiful immersive feeling. The Until Until Stage kept its good name, the only part I didn’t enjoy was the stage MC. The Samsung Galaxy Experience Stage, was amazing, I repeat, was amazing. Besides all the stages, food stalls and beers drinks, there was nothing really new added on except access to the Nasrec Train. The purchasing system was better because the tags used were actually your bracelets, so you couldn’t lose it.
After all this, on an overall the alcohol finishing from the fridges around 10pm and then not being restocked, resulting in people being served warm beer was such a let-down. This followed up by the organisers not contacting the network service providers to at least boost the network or even provide event goers with WiFI made me sad. Uber was there but there was no proper control of traffic or designated Uber area. There was a bus system though, so not that bad. I somewhat feel, Ultra SA, as amazing as it is and providing us access to see international DJs live, it does feel too monetized now, it doesn’t have that authentic feeling anymore. When I first attended, it was such a beautiful thing but it hasn’t progressed from then, they just keep shuffling around sponsors. Also, when I watched some of our DJs put on a show, they really did an amazing job with the little they were provided, mainly the Resistance Stage. Black Coffee pulled such a huge crowd when he played but the sound was bad and that wasn’t fair because he is our biggest DJs. Ultra needs to give him that kind of respect. The only thing he got were girls dancing on the stage and they didn’t add any value to his set but this was still nothing compared to the experience the DJs on the Main Stage provided.
Ultra SA is the biggest Dance Festival in South Africa right now but they haven’t innovated past the likes of Spring Fiesta in terms of always making sure to introduce something new. The Spider Stage would have been nice because when we watch videos from other Ultra’s we do feel like we are being compromised on some parts and we would really love to get the entire Ultra experience also.