The largest music festival in North America, Electric Daisy Carnival, also known as EDC Las Vegas, returned home to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for three unforgettable nights, May 19-21. EDC weekend brought in over 520,000 Headliners from all across the world to celebrate electronic dance music and Insomniac’s 30th Anniversary!
Insomniac hosted 230+ internationally-renowned artists representing a diverse range of dance music genres across their nine themed stages and art cars. The massive lineup featured Above & Beyond, Alison Wonderland, Armin van Buuren, Chris Lake, David Guetta, Darren Styles, Duke Dumont, Funtcase, Galantis, Kaskade, Galantis, Marshmello, Martin Garrix, Said The Sky, Slander, Tiesto, Vini Vici, Zedd, and many more.
EDC Las Vegas leads the industry in providing a fully immersive festival experience with grand-scale production, themed stages, art cars, carnival rides, mind-blowing firework shows, towering art installations, beauty bars, Camp EDC accommodations, and even a wedding chapel for those looking to tie the knot under the Electric Sky.
The festival runs from dusk till dawn which means hours upon hours of dance music gracing the stages inside the Speedway. This year featured nine stages, including kineticFIELD, circuitGROUNDS, cosmicMEADOW, bassPOD, stereoBLOOM, wasteLAND, neonGARDEN, quantumVALLEY, and bionicJUNGLE. Each stage carried a unique design and sound, but the good vibes were equivalent throughout.
© Orhun Uygur I for Insomniac Events
The main stage, kineticFIELD got a makeover to represent this year’s theme, which was kineticAWAKENING. In Pasquale Rotella’s words, “The kineticAWAKENING is what brings the whole world into alignment, and opens our eyes to this moment together. We celebrate our rebirth in this turning point within our community. Bring the energy to the dancefloor—the new dawn awaits!” The mega-structure design was centered around an awe-inspiring figure of a woman named Celestial with eyes that “awaken” to the rising beats and a never-ending supply of pyro and lasers to illuminate the night.
© Orhun Uygur I for Insomniac Events
DAY ONE
We embarked on the journey to kineticAWAKENING and the first stop on our itinerary was to simply take in the breathtaking views of EDC Las Vegas. There is nothing like the first look of EDC upon entering the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the feeling of nostalgia you get when returning home. One of the most memorable performances we caught was from global icon, David Guetta at kineticFIELD. Guetta interacted with the crowd and had Headliners singing in unison to his platinum hit single, “Titanium” and latest viral track, “I’m Good (Blue).” His set was followed by an epic firework show that lit up the night. The fireworks at EDC are unmatched and when they go off, you stop whatever you’re doing and just enjoy the show. John Summit‘s beautiful record, “Where You Are” soared from the speakers as the firecrackers rose up and painted the Electric Sky. It was a magical moment that we’ll never forget. Over at bassPOD, Jessica Audiffred and Riot Ten turned up the heat and ignited the flames of the bass stage with a fire b2b set. Another b2b that will forever live in our memories was the epic Loco Dice and FISHER at neonGARDEN. The pair played a three hour set to close out the night and it was a house lover’s dream setlist.
DAY TWO
Day two brought out all the heavy hitters and our festival schedule was jam-packed. Legendary producer, Boris Brejcha kicked off the night with his high-tech minimal style at kineticFIELD. Dom Dolla drew in attendees to circuitGROUNDS with his groovy house catalog and fan favorite, “Rhyme Dust”. Kaskade followed up and delivered an unexpected, but incredible set that focused on the techno side of dance music. Some festival goers weren’t happy with Kaskade straying away from his usual sound, but we loved it.
One of the most talked about moments at EDC Las Vegas was when Subtronics brought out John Summit aka their b2b moniker, Subjohnics at circuitGROUNDS. Although you would think these two are an unlikely duo, their mix of dubstep and house (and everything in between) seems to work. Trance fans got a very special performance at quantumVALLEY with Gareth Emery presents Decades. Gareth took ravers on an hour long tour through his discography and right from the “Breathe” intro, it was goosebumps and happy tears. His tracklist included “Mezzanine,” “Sanctuary,” “Sansa,” “Reckless,” and “Concrete Angel.”
DAY THREE
The final day of EDC Las Vegas brought the most energy and spirits were high (even though our legs were dead)! The night started at cosmicMEADOW with a marathon of house music. We hadn’t spent much time here up until this moment, but Sunday night’s roster was too good to miss. cosmicMEADOW’s lineup included Chris Lorenzo, J. Worra, Tchami b2b AC Slater, Wax Motif, and Sonny Fodera. Across the venue from cosmicMEADOW was a stage known for the harder styles of dance music, wasteLAND. This was one of the smaller stages at EDC, but don’t be fooled by its size, it packed the most punch and the highest BPM. wasteLAND caters to the Headliners that love hardstyle and Insomniac did a great job bringing out some of the best in the scene. Day three included massive performances from Adrenalize, Brennan Heart, and Gammer b2b Tweekacore. Insomniac Records hosted the stereoBLOOM stage and it was booming with talent from dusk to dawn. James Hype dominated stereoBLOOM’s dancefloor and traded in his radio-friendly sound for a techno set fit for the underground.
EDC closed the main stage with a special redux set from Kaskade. He played until the sun was came up and the vibes were immaculate. The festival concluded with its traditional sunrise closing ceremony… and that marked the end of our journey to kineticAWAKENING!
EDC Las Vegas is more than a typical music festival, but a sensory wonderland of sights and sounds that caters to the Headliner experience. It’s also one of the few events that still promotes OG rave values, PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect). We believe all electronic dance music fans should attend EDC at least once to truly experience the magic. ALL ARE WELCOME HERE!
Our journey through EDC’s kineticAwakening was filled with special memories that will last us a lifetime. We can’t wait to return under the Electric Sky next year! If you would like to start planning for EDC 2024, pre-sale tickets are available here for a limited time.
Connect with EDC Las Vegas:
https://www.facebook.com/electricdaisycarnival
https://twitter.com/EDC_LasVegas
https://instagram.com/edc_lasvegas
http://lasvegas.electricdaisycarnival.com
Connect with Insomniac:
https://facebook.com/insomniacevents
https://twitter.com/insomniacevents
https://www.instagram.com/insomniacevents
https://www.insomniac.com
Photo Credit: EDC Las Vegas/Insomniac
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