For the second year in a row, Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) has flooded Instagram feeds around the world during its late-May event. The longstanding massive rave has taken place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for years now. Insomniac, the company behind the event, decided to move it from mid-June to late-May in order to better control the 100,000+ person crowd by offering camping. The decision to move the event was vital, as Las Vegas is virtually inhospitable during the summer months. Now, instead of battling harsh heat, the festival and its attendees were left with an entirely new challenge—the cold.
Harsh Winds & Arrests
A cold front brought cooler temperatures into Las Vegas over EDC weekend. The event, which is known for its hot temperatures throughout its dusk-till-dawn party, saw cold temperatures for possibly the first time in its entire run as a Las Vegas event. Temperatures dropped as low as the mid 50’s throughout the weekend. On the second night, harsh winds came into play as well. Part of the event was evacuated due to high winds, which compromised safety at some of the bigger stages and on the many carnival rides.
Evacuations took place just before 2 a.m. on the event’s second night. Many attendees left the premises and headed back into Las Vegas before the event issued a correction that allowed attendees back into the venue. Many assumed that the evacuation of two of the main stage areas meant that the entire speedway was being evacuated, but only parts of the event was compromised due to the high winds.
Regardless of its success, EDC still saw a few dozen arrests over the course of three days. For a festival that attracts over 100,000 attendees from around the world, only 65 arrests is a remarkably low number. Among the arrests, only two were related to driving under the influence. NFL star Ezekiel Elliott was handcuffed and detained during the festival for knocking another man to the ground in a fight. The victim chose not to move forward and press charges, so Elliott was not arrested.
Overall, the event saw nearly 1/3 less arrests than in previous years, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. This could be because the festival now offers camping, as well as the fact that Nevada has legalized cannabis in recent years.
Surprise Performances
Despite the couple of weather setbacks and usual legal troubles at the event, EDC proved to be a massive success over the course of the three-day weekend at the Las Vegas Speedway. Surprise performances from artists like Skrillex added to much of the excitement. The longtime EDM favorite hasn’t performed solo at the event for quite some time, so fans were eager to see the one-hour set when it went down at EDC’s circuitGROUNDS stage on Saturday night. The set was teased on Twitter by the owner of Insomniac, Pasquale Rotella, in the days prior to the event.
One thing Electric Daisy Carnival is known for is its ability to congregate nearly all of the electronic music industry in the same way Ultra does on the east coast. That being said, a solo performance from an act as big as Skrillex was long overdue, yet equally unsurprising since the artist is one of the most iconic performers in the entire industry.
