Las Vegas Weekly

June 23, 2009 · 12:30 PM

Coachella for Clubbers: Electric Daisy Carnival is coming (close) to Vegas

By Deanna Rilling

Rabbit in the Moon at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2008.

Update 06/25/09: We've added the complete schedule of performers and event map for Electric Daisy Carnival, plus you can follow the action (cell phone service permitting) on the Weekly's Twitter.

Think of it as Coachella for club kids and electronic dance music fans. A lone dance tent on the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif. only whets the neon plastic whistles for legions of EDM aficionados, who flock to LA for Electric Daisy Carnival.

After last year’s successful sold-out event with over 65,000 attendees, the 13th EDC has expanded for the first time in its history to two days of electronic music goodness at the Memorial Coliseum & Exposition Park.

While it might sound counterintuitive, Vegas fans road-trip to Cali by the carloads for the festival, leaving behind the headliners in local mega-clubs. Why? For starters, it’s all ages, so you can bring your baby-faced sibling who hasn’t been able to find a good fake ID yet. Second, there’ll be six separate areas, and though the headliners on the largest Kinetic Field stage are the best in the biz, smaller areas are perfect for discovering new artists that might never make a stop in our desert town. (Some of the best acts last year at EDC were on the smaller stages and not announced until the last minute). Third, the majority of attendees are experts with sewing machines, pony beads, glitter and Bedazzlers, so the people watching never gets boring, and finally, there are actually carnival rides at Electric Daisy Carnival!

Even better is the sheer cost of everything compared to partying in Vegas. A two-day general admission pass is about a hundred bucks, but the real kicker is the VIP package (unless you’re a kiddie, in which case this isn’t an option for you). If you’re the ultimate baller, the VIP cabanas in Giant Peristyle chill-out area under the Olympic torch at EDC are nothing cost-wise compared to your average day at a pool party here. For $1400 on Saturday ($1200 on Friday) you get: six complimentary VIP tickets, a bottle of premium vodka with mixers, hosted open bar, velvet-roped cabana area for up to 15 people, your own wait staff serving complimentary drinks and refreshments directly to your crew, separate restrooms and an observation area that overlooks the main stage. You do the math and see how good of a deal that is.

But even if you can’t spring for the fancy-schmancy VIPness, EDC is worth the four-hour road trip. Just make sure if you catch a ride with someone, you come up with a plan of attack in case everyone gets separated. Cell phone service stopped working last year because of so many people concentrated in the area, and more than a few revelers got left behind and had to find alternate transportation back to their hotels or even back to Vegas.

Click here for our interview with headliners Infected Mushroom and Eddie Halliwell. Below is the schedule or performers and event map for EDC (click image to enlarge). We’ll provide updates on additional artists as we receive them.

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