Here is the info I picked up today:

Diaz tries to unplug show over drug fears
Promoters to meet mayor, consider suit
BY DAPHNE DURET
dduret@herald.com

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz's last-minute bid to cancel a Bayfront Park festival scheduled for March 22 has pitted him against the promoters of the electronic music event expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

At a meeting scheduled for noon today, Diaz will ask Bayfront Park officials and event promoters to stop the fifth annual Ultra Electronic Music Festival.

If they can't reach an agreement with Diaz by the end of today's meeting, lawyers for Ultra say they will be forced to sue the city, especially since promoters have already spent more than $600,000 on the event and have another $1 million in contracts.

They have also sold thousands of tickets for $40 to $60 each and signed an agreement to produce live broadcasts at the event, promoters said.

If the festival goes on as scheduled, though, promoters expect such artists as Underworld, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, John Digweed, Paul van Dyk, Hybrid and Seb Fountaine.

The event is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. March 22 and end at 1 a.m. the next day.

The problem comes just two weeks before the event. Diaz's office cited concerns about possible widespread drug use as the reason to stop the event. Promoters said those concerns are unfounded. They said they only heard of the mayor's plan to cancel the event at a meeting Thursday at City Hall.

LAST YEAR'S EVENT

An aide to Diaz, his press secretary Kelly Penton, said her boss' concerns arose from reports of rampant drug use at last year's event, also at Bayfront Park. The mayor said many of the music fans would be minors.

Penton said Diaz began to worry when he learned a few weeks ago that the festival was returning. Penton said the mayor was aware of the festival because he had watched television footage of last year's event.

The footage was part of a larger television news report chronicling use of the drug Ecstasy at parties in South Florida, promoters and Diaz's office said.

But Ultra promoter Russell Faibisch called the broadcast misleading, saying that less than 10 percent of the footage came from video taken at last year's festival.

''Ultra is a music dance party that attracts upwards of 30,000 people,'' Diaz's office said in a written statement Sunday. ``At least half consume illegal drugs and a significant portion of participants are kids under the age of 18.''

Diaz's office did not provide the basis for those statistics. But Penton referred calls to Miami Detective Eladio Paez for corroboration.

Paez said he was a 21-year veteran of the Miami Police Department, adding that he has specialized in narcotics-use trends for the past 18 years.

He estimated that more than half of those who attended last year's concert either used, sold or bought drugs openly. Paez put attendance last year at 21,000. But a police report of the event faxed to The Herald by event lawyers put the estimated attendance at 30,000.

Lawyers for Ultra said promoters have not received any complaints stemming from the previous two years they've held the event at the park.

The police report cited 56 arrests, but did not detail the reason for the detentions. It also noted that four people had been hospitalized but did not say why.

The report made two recommendations for improved security: barricades and more police at money collection booths.

The report, as faxed to The Herald, made no reference to drugs.

LETTERS OF PRAISE

Promoters said police and fire officials and the Bayfront Park Management Trust have given approval to have the concert again this year.

Promoters also faxed to The Herald copies of letters from Bayfront Park officials to park officials elsewhere in the country praising the organization of the event last year.

''The producers demonstrated a commitment to patron safety, collaborating closely with City of Miami police and Fire Rescue,'' said a letter signed by Timothy Schmand, executive director for Bayfront Park Management Trust. ``The Trust believes that Ultra Music Festival will continue to work closely with them in the future.''

This year's event is advertised on both the city of Miami and Bayfront Park websites. The Bayfront Park website speaks of the festival in glowing terms: ''This is one party you can't miss!'' a note on the site says.

___________________

"Richard Branson, if you're reading this please adopt me.
I'm well behaved and I may
or may not carry the secret to eternal life with me."