Music, Tennis, Food, Comedy & Ice Skating Fans To Pack Miami Area
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Getting around Miami over the weekend will be a tedious adventure for thousands of drivers.
Fans hoping for the Ultra music experience will find themselves among Disney, tennis, comedy and food lovers.
While Ultra Music Festival will attract 50 to 60 thousand people, it is just a portion of the thousands flocking to downtown Miami and the surrounding area.
The Sony Open will continue on Key Biscayne through Sunday and is a culmination of two weeks of tennis.
Disney On Ice: Rockin' Ever After will take place at the AmericanAirlines Arena each afternoon and night.
LaRita Price took her daughter and nieces to see the show, not knowing the electronic dance music festival was happening just down the street.
"I saw some of the most outrageous costumes in the world out of my 43 years of living," Price told CBS4's Lauren Pastrana. "I brought my kids to see Disney on Ice. I didn't know it was like this. I never heard of Ultra before in my life."
Price wisely took the MetroMover, where she was joined by many neon-clad Ultra attendees.
"The train was packed," Nick Kuehne said. "We go to UM, so a lot of students took the Metrorail from there."
The Taste of Brickell Food and Wine Festival happens Saturday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. with restaurants serving from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Miami.
To add to the crowds, Jay Leno will perform Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Adrienne Arsht Center.
While the Miami-Dade County Fair isn't in downtown Miami, the event takes place through Sunday too.
By far, most of the congestion will be focused on downtown.
"The parking here is crazy," Jose Flores said after shelling out $50 for a spot. "Just the traffic getting here is already like too much."
Officials have encouraged people to use Metrorail and MetroMover as road closures are already taking place.
Tri-Rail has announced that it will extend train service every night during the festival.
The special train will leave the Metrorail Transfer Station at 1:45 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, and at 1:00 a.m. on Monday.
The entire schedule can be viewed by clicking here.
There will be added congestion Saturday and Sunday as the Sony Open Tennis Tournament wraps up on Key Biscayne.
While the Metrorail won't get you to the Key, officials have encouraged people to use the train service when maneuvering through downtown Miami.
Friday one-way fares are between $2.50 and $6.90 and weekend fares are just $5 all day.
If you are trying to drive to any of the events downtown, be aware that southbound traffic along Biscayne Boulevard will be detoured west at NE 4th Street to NE 2nd Avenue.
Drivers will need to use NE 2nd Avenue to get where they are going.
Northbound Biscayne Boulevard drivers will experience lane closures and a shift to the southbound lanes at Southeast 1st Street.
Northbound traffic will then continue north in the southbound lanes to NE 4th Street where it will be re-directed back into the regular northbound lanes.
