Cape Town – The Cape Town chapter of the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 tour in the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point on Friday has to be one of the craziest nights of the year for the city's music fanatics.
An Ultra Music Festival is an experience most people who attended would take a long time to forget.
It's unforgettable because of the best local and international deejays who gave their all on the decks to move about 20 000 souls who gathered on the stadium's protected pitch to celebrate the universal language of music. Music has an ability to draw the crowds and unite people across different cultures and languages.
Ultra fan Wade Appels who is a chef and Simone Britz enjoying the underground dance floor at the Ultra Music Festival Cape Town 2017 in the Cape Town Stadium. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
This is what Ultra does well.
The crowds started trickling into the stadium from early on Friday afternoon. After a few hours, as the lineup started, the main stage quickly became a large dance floor as people packed in as close to the stage as possible to see their favourite headline acts.
The deejay lineup was tight with big names in the entertainment industry, such as Dutch DJ, record producer, and musician Martin Garrix, French DJ, record producer, remixer, and songwriter David Guetta, South African DJ Black Coffee, and DJ Snake among others, giving crowds maximum choice on their preferences.
People filling up the covered pitch in Cape Town Stadium for the Ultra Music Festival Cape Town 2017 that took place on Friday February 24 featuring international and local deejays. PHOTO: ANA / Songezo Ndlendele
The main stage was packed with electro music lovers while the underground dance floor strummed deep house beats. The three different dance floors pulled nightlife lovers with incredible sensations of mind-blowing technologies used to construct different light effects in different environments, changing these dance floor venues into various colourful kaleidoscopes.
The backdrop of the Cape Town Stadium as seen from near the front of the main stage at the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 tour in Cape Town. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
The moving, ever changing audiovisuals and choreographed soundless pyrotechnics added to the festival's ambiance.
A group of young South Africans excited to realise their dream of attending Ultra Music Festival South Africa - Cape Town 2017. From left to right: Carter Ross, Jason Cupido, Hadley Urion, Joshua Henry, and Savannah Healing. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
Music lovers attending the festival shared a few thoughts with the African News Agency (ANA). Raafeeqah Abrahams, a human resources professional, said it was her first ultra experience. "I heard about it from friends, and I came because of the deejays. They are amazing, and I am excited to hear Martin Garrix and David Guetta because I love their type of music."
Colourful eclectic lights mix with Dutch DJ, record producer and musician Martin Garrix's electro tunes in the Cape Town Stadium during the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 tour. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
Abrahams said the festival surpassed her expectations. "I love the stadium, it's awesome and so big!"
Wade Appels, who donned a large eye-catching native American headdress, exclaimed: "I'm an ultra baby! The first ultra I went to was overseas, in Miami. Since then I have been to three ultra festivals in South Africa."
French DJ, record producer, remixer and songwriter David Guetta performs before the crowd in the Cape Town Stadium at Ultra Music Festival South Africa - Cape Town 2017. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
Appels, a chef who lives in Cape Town and works in Johannesburg, said he loves the ultra experience because "you just enjoy yourself at ultra because you can be yourself". He said he could see the festival had grown bigger in South Africa since he attended the first ultra four years ago.
However, he believed the ostrich farm north of Cape Town, where it was held before, was a better venue because "the vibe is different".
Incredible light technology transformed Cape Town Stadium into a kaleidoscope of colours adding to the unforgettable Ultra Music Festival South Africa experience. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
Homegrown local talent DJ Black Coffee stole the underground dance floor scene.
On the upper level of the stadium, outside near the food trucks, a group of fresh high school graduates dressed in tie dyed T-shirts with the ultra branding were chilling. They told ANA that it had been a dream for them to attend ultra.
DJ Ivan Turanjanin holds the decks on the underground dance floor in the Cape Town Stadium during the Ultra South Africa Music Festival South Africa 2017. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
Young Capetonian Hadley Urion, 18, said: "We watched all the ultra movies three years ago and we said back then that if we ever went to ultra we should all wear something big for the photos."
Urion, who was looking forward to seeing Garrix and Guetta perform, said he was disappointed his favourite deejay Hardwell was not in the lineup.
Homegrown talent DJ Black Coffee spun tunes and stole the underground dance floor spotlight in Cape Town Stadium at the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 in the city. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
Jason Cupido from Diep River said he was having a "mind-blowing experience". "Being here tonight means a lot to my friends and I because it feels like a dream coming true. We have watched ultra on YouTube and TV and now it is finally here in South Africa."
Cupido said they were looking forward to seeing Garrix perform because he was an inspiration. "He's almost our age, slightly older yes, but he has made it for himself and he inspires us to achieve the impossible."
Confetti is showered upon the crowd in the Cape Town Stadium during the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 tour in the city. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
As Guetta took to the stage, the strobe lights lit up the stage in playful patterns and anticipation melted away into delight as the crowd roared their approval. Guetta played his hits with a smile and sometimes stood up on the deck waving the South African flag with the ultra icon in the middle.
The audiovisuals were illustrations that gave a cheeky, soulful look and feel to Guetta's style. Confetti was sprinkled over the crowds, and anyone near the stage would have felt the heat from the flaming pyrotechnics.
Music fans raised their mobile devices to capture Dutch DJ, record producer and musician Martin Garrix in action in the Cape Town Stadium during the Cape Town leg of the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 tour. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
When Garrix started playing his skillful beats the strobe lights took on a different colour and shape, accompanying his skillful, funky dance beats.
Young men hoisted their girlfriends onto their shoulders so they could see the deejays on the stage, feet moving to the beat. Mobile phones were lifted up high to capture the moment and ambiance of the stage and stadium, reflecting how memories of an incredible experienced were captured in digital posterity.
Strobe lights set the pace for Dutch DJ, record producer and musician Martin Garrix's performance at the Cape Town Stadium during the Cape Town leg of the Ultra Music Festival South Africa 2017 tour. PHOTO: ANA / Jabulile S. Ngwenya
After the Ultra Music Festival finishes touring South Africa it heads to its home ground, Miami in the United States, in March. From Miami it will go to Singapore in June.