It’s been two weeks since Insomniac staged the latest edition of Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas. It was the 27th edition of the festival overall, and its 12th edition in Las Vegas. There is no question of EDC’s place among the largest festivals in the world, Insomniac’s brand is unsurpassed. I was trying to think of how to sum up the weekend at the Speedway (my 8th EDC!) and the more I think about it, I kind of think of EDC as being like a movie franchise like the Avengers or Fast and the Furious. Every edition is bigger and better, the production gets more mind-blowing, whatever you thought was possible gets outdone the next year. The formula is the same, but the execution gets more precise every time. EDC, and Insomniac in general, are a fine-tuned machine. EDC is the epic by-product of that, and all of us headliners are the benefactors.
There’s not too much I can say that hasn’t already been said about EDC. We all know that Insomniac’s flagship festival takes over the Las Vegas Strip and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the week. Whether you arrive in Vegas on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, there is no shortage of world class performances at mind-blowing clubs and pool parties all week. You don’t even need to go to EDC to enjoy Las Vegas for the weekend. I personally checked out Alesso at Hakkasan on Thursday night to kick off the weekend. There are tons of Airbnbs to stay at all around the residential areas outside of Las Vegas, but there’s something to be said for doing a proper Vegas trip and staying at one of the iconic hotels on the strip.
That being said, let’s talk about the finer details of the festival. EDC is a life changing festival, there’s a reason that me and so many other headliners keep coming back year after year. That being said, EDC is not perfect and is not without its challenges. Getting to the Speedway from the Strip or anywhere in the Las Vegas Metro area is a challenge. Shuttles are generally the best way to get to and from the festival departing the strip, but even this year, shuttle passes were hard to come by. There’s basically 100,000 people in the house per night, so ride-share at your own risk. The pro route is to go with Premier Parking; you avoid the main thoroughfare going into the Speedway, you basically go the same route artists go, and you’re able to conveniently leave the festival and avoid insane traffic. 10/10 would recommend Premier Parking.
Once you were inside the festival grounds, the layout should be familiar to anyone who’s been to EDC before. If you haven’t been, Insomniac was kind enough to place Wayfinders all over the festival, which were extremely helpful. Let’s face it, we’ve all been standing in front of the large map of the festival at peak hours…and not been able to find our way. Who would have thought that taking a cue from museums and zoos could be so helpful. Again, the layout of the festival was very familiar. Most people probably entered through the stairs that lead to Cosmic Meadow, an iconic walk. Kinetic Field took up its normal mass of area, headliners could walk Rainbow Road and turn into Carnival Square or see what was going on at Wasteland or Basspod.
Despite how much of EDC feels familiar, it is an ever evolving festival. Kinetic Field is the main stage, and as anyone who’s been knows, the theme and design of the stage changes every year. This year the theme was kineticAWAKENING and the star of the stage was Celestial, a female statue that opened both her eyes and hands to all the headliners at the stage. Words can’t describe how amazing the production at this year’s EDC was. I’ve never been to TomorrowLand, but I can safely say that no US festival can match EDC in stage design and production. Of course, Kinetic Field wasn’t the only stage to get an upgrade. Basspod got a massive renovation turning into a field of electric tesla coils firing lasers into the night sky. CircuitGrounds got more open space while its 360 LED panels seemingly got bigger. The pyro and lasers were noteworthy at the stage.
This leads into my next point, the impossibility of exploring everything EDC has to offer. EDC is truly the most immersive festival on the planet. Can you get married at Coachella? No. Can you go to Outside Lands and experience 30 years of brand history? No. Can you take a helicopter into the grounds at Bonnaroo? You can do all of those things at EDC. Kudos to Insomniac for paying attention to all the little details and making EDC a true carnival. The only thing missing is a petting zoo. But, yeah, you could literally spend just one day of the festival walking around and exploring all of the rides, Downtown EDC, Carnival Square, and just taking in each stage. EDC has quietly expanded with two additional stages, Sterobloom and Bionic Jungle, over the past couple of years. While those stages won’t compete with KineticField or CircuitGrounds, they’re still wonderful additions to the festival and are each developing their own feel and flair. (Full disclosure, I also did not visit NeonGarden.)
The performances were top notch all weekend. Although there’s no specific headliner at EDC, the 12:30 time slot is kind of the primetime slot, so we’ll say that the headliners were David Guetta, Tiesto and Martin Garrix. Insomniac does a great job of showcasing new talent and there were also some insane b2bs (Marshmello b2b SvddenDeath anybody?), but the mainstage follows a tried and true formula. Other artists who were at kineticField included Zedd, Armin van Buuren, Gareth Emery, Marshmello and Slander. All amazing and proven artists.
One of the best things about EDC is how reliable it is, and this year was no exception. No one dropped out, there were no disastrous performances, there weren’t even any cringey guests. Just great tunes from the best DJs in the world. Just as reliably, EDC will return next year to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, May 17-19. Reserve your tickets here. Check out the official EDC aftermovie too!
