This past weekend the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) came to town, transforming the Las Vegas Motor Speedway into this psychedelic wonderland of lights and music. With people pouring in both locally and flown-in from Harry Reid Airport, the crowd was as electric as the carnival itself.
First established in 1997 as a warehouse party in Los Angeles produced by Insomniac Event’s CEO and Founder, Pasquale Rotella. After debuting as an official event at the Shrine Expo Hall, it went on to gather a following around Southern California. In 2010, EDC events were seen in Los Angeles, Colorado, Dallas and Puerto Rico.
It made its permanent stay in Las Vegas in 2011 after it faced multiple controversies during the previous year’s residency in Los Angeles, California including a stampede that hospitalized more than 100 attendees. This caused the City of Los Angeles to place a suspension on the festival, and the festival made its home at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway ever since. The first EDC in Vegas saw an alleged 230,000 people in attendance.
This three-day festival features the world’s top EDM producers and DJs, such as Calvin Harris, Diplo, Alesso, Martin Garrix, Zedd, Afrojack, Seven Lions and many more household names. It also features many different genres of electronic music such as techno, house, dubstep and drum and bass. To accompany the top-of-the-line electronic music are various sculptures and art installations as well as carnival rides and free-roaming performances. Notable companies such as Uber, Tinder, Allegiant, Snapchat, Verizon, Corona, Coinbase and 818 Tequila can be seen sponsoring this extravagant event. Many people compare it to the popular Coachella Music Festival held four hours away in Indio, California.
This Year’s Festival Goes Viral
On the last day of EDC, Twitter user @VibesSushi went viral with over 20.1k likes, 1,784 retweets and 1,488 quote tweets. In this tweet, VibesSushi shows a bar tab receipt totaling a whopping $167,764.50. This receipt includes charges for things such as 39 water buckets for $2,925, two Ace of Spades Rose for $3,200, and 26 Clase Azul Reposado for $51,870. If that already wasn’t enough, a charge of $30 can be seen for an unmet minimum, demonstrating that the patrons didn’t even spend enough. Dividing between the reported 20 guests that were on that bill, that is still over 8k per person. This absolutely baffled the people of Twitter, especially in the current post-pandemic economy, about how someone could spend that much money on just alcohol for a weekend event. Now perhaps if it was one of the best breakfasts in Vegas as found on our list or an all-nighter at the Sahara Casino, an expense like that could be justified…
To top it all off, according to this follow up tweet a different set of patrons managed to break the record with a bill totaling a mind-blowing $323,848.39, which meant over $22k for each of the 15 reported guests in that party. The general public was baffled to think that someone would spend as much money on drinks as someone would to buy a house, and especially in the current age of inflation and the dramatic rising of the housing market, people showed their disbelief.
Many people also voiced their outrage about the ridiculous upcharges of drinks within the festival. A 1.5 liter bottle of Clase Azul Reposado that is regularly priced at $319.99 were sold for almost $2,000 at the festival. Similarly, Ace of Spades Rose bottles usually run for about $500, but at the festival, they were being sold for $3,200 each. While the opulence of Vegas makes getting a bill at one of the most coveted restaurants on the Strip seem believable, seeing it for drinks at a festival can be incredibly jarring.
To make matters even worse, something as simple as a bucket of water and a bucket of Redbull were being sold for a whopping $75 each. Of course, big events want to make a profit and similar upcharges can be found across the entire map of the Las Vegas Strip, but for something like a three-day festival the general public agrees that the upcharge prices are ridiculous.
Speaking of making a profit, many people pointed out that both receipts had the same server: Dominique. Not including the service charge, if the patrons had common decency, and here’s hoping that they did, that would mean that this server would have made almost $35k on the first bill and around $65k on the second one. That’s definitely a financially-life changing amount of money. In the comments, many users reflect on how hard it is to comprehend that someone could just spend that much money on something so temporary when something like that could easily get someone out of debt and change someone’s life.
EDC Las Vegas Frequently Asked Questions
When is EDC held?
EDC is usually held at the end of May. Las year, it was held in October due to pandemic rescheduling, but it is reported that in 2023 EDC will be held from May 19th to May 21st.
What should I bring when I go to EDC?
Of course, pack all of the essentials that you would when traveling, but some other suggestions include a hydration, some nice outfits since festival goers tend to dress up in psychedelic raver wear, a phone charger, towels, items like bandanas and sunglasses to shield yourself from the hot Vegas sun, comfortable walking shoes and much more.
Where should I stay when I attend EDC?
If you aren’t lucky enough to know a Las Vegas local that you can stay with during the weekend, you’re still in luck. Choose from multiple nearby Las Vegas resorts and casinos to ensure a comfortable stay. If you so choose, extend your stay and explore the Las Vegas Strip and all the adventures and experiences it has to offer. Of course, there are always plenty of amazing hotels on the Strip. If you prefer to be in the middle of the action the entire weekend, there are on-site camping options that you can choose from.
Where do I get tickets to EDC?
You can get tickets on their official website, https://lasvegas.electricdaisycarnival.com/tickets/. Tickets for 2023 are not currently on sale as of yet, but concertgoers can expect them to be announced soon. To always get the latest EDC news, make sure to sign up for their newsletter on their website.