LAS VEGAS – The Electric Daisy Carnival's dusk-to-dawn electronic music and arts extravaganza moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas this summer, adding a third night to the schedule. The total attendee count was near 250,000, far exceeding the 130,000 who attended the two-day event in Los Angeles last year.
Although authorities linked a second death to the Electric Daisy Carnival satellite event that was staged for a single night in Dallas on June 18, no deaths were reported following the larger rave held June 24-26 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with serious incidents limited to a handful of arrests for drug and burglary offenses. Of the attendees requiring on-site medical attention, only a few required hospital transport from the ambulances standing by.
The biggest of 2011's Electric Daisy Carnivals moved from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum following a 14-year run there after a 15-year-old girl died from a drug overdose. In Las Vegas, along with beefed up security, festival organizer Insomniac also raised the minimum age of attendees from 16 to 18.
At the one-night event in Dallas, about 30 attendees needed medical attention for heat, alcohol and drug-related issues, and a 19-year-old attendee died. Police have since linked a second death to the event after a 22-year-old man returning from the event died in an apparently drug-related incident.
The head of Insomniac, Pasquale Rotella, issued condolences. "To go from a moment of happiness and enjoyment, to the loss of life, is very heartbreaking," he noted.
In Las Vegas, precautions to enforce Insomniac's "zero tolerance" policy for drug abuse included close to 160 Las Vegas police officers and close to 1,000 hired security guards. Everyone entering the speedway for the event was screened, with searches included pat-downs and requirements to empty purses and pockets for inspection. Anyone leaving was not allowed to be re-admitted.
Along with the Dallas and Las Vegas events, Electric Daisy Carnival events took place in Orlando and Denver, and a fifth event is planned for Puerto Rico in late August.
Extensive preparations for staging the event took place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier in June. For a video, go to http://www.prolightingspace.com/video/countdown-to-edc-vegas-2011?xg_source=activity and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6-a8kMy1U8&feature=youtu.be.
