Surviving EDC Las Vegas

When I first attended EDC in 2009 it was still at the USC Coliseum in Los Angeles, tickets were $75 and the drive to get there was a mere 4 hours for me. These days EDC is all over the world. Las Vegas tickets now boasting almost $400! Not to mention that while I did make the 8 hour drive to EDC Las Vegas 2011, I flew home and came to the conclusion that the extra money was well worth it. Especially when Southwest has pretty reasonable prices if you book in advance. Needless to say, not only did the EDC experience change quite a bit when it moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, but so did the prepping.

A couple of things to really know about EDC Las Vegas.

It is #*%@-ing crowded!

Even though I’m sure you already know that over 100,000 people attend EDC each day. Until you have been to an event with that capacity you really can’t fully fathom what it is like. At music festivals your concept of personal space needs to not exist. While some people will very impolitely move you out of their way so they can get through the crowd, a good amount of people will politely try to move around you. One way or another just let it go. If they are being polite it's nice to just let them by. You need to remember that you are doing exactly the same thing when you move through the crowd. However, this does not mean you need to let people try to herd you out of your dancing spot. People will try to push your personal bubble, which shouldn't exist at festivals anyways, to get you to move. Stand your ground and let them bump into you, eventually they will give up. If they don’t, don’t be afraid to nicely comment on their behavior. Sometimes people are oblivious to their surroundings. Other times though, when it is on purpose, most people will stop once confronted. Whatever you do, don’t make a scene of it. Worst comes to worst just find a new spot, don’t let a negative person affect your experience.


If I didn’t know better I would tell you the free water they provide is actually recycled toilet water.

In 2011 I could not figure out for the life of me why I kept feeling sick, blamed it mostly on my partying. Fast forward to 2012…the first night I had the same problem, the second night I didn’t, third night as soon as we got there I didn’t feel well again. What was the difference between the nights? The only water my friends brought me the second night was bottled water, the other nights we had the free water. I immediately switched back to bottled water and I was fine again. EDC 2013, I forgot to warn my friends who had never been about my water theory ahead of time and  I didn’t see them until the second day. Unfortunate for them since they had been feeling sick the first night. As soon as they switched to bottled water they felt much better. This being said, make sure you budget and bring enough cash to be able to buy bottled water. It’s not going to be cheap, but it’s well worth not feeling like crap for the whole event


You are only going to eat one meal a day.

I don’t mean this as a recommendation, but as a fact. You will only have time to eat one meal a day outside of the event. They do sell pretty decent food at the event and I personally love getting ice cream during the rave. Even if you don’t feel like eating anything, you need to. Make sure your one meal counts! Having a salad and some bread isn’t going to help; get some carbs in your body, trust me you are going to burn it all off anyways. We brought Costco muffins with us in 2012, best decision we made!

Make sure to explore.

Yes you came to dance to the music, but Insomniac puts together so many other things that it is definitely worth your while to wander around and see what’s out there. I recommend getting there early so you don’t miss your favorite artist, plus it’s a lot less crowded and easier to move around.
 

It is tiring. 

Three days of hardcore partying is enough to run down even the most seasoned raver. Keep this in mind when you make plans to go hard the first night. Pace yourself so that you can actually enjoy all three nights. As for sleep, in 2012 my friends and I slept 3 hours each day so that we could spend the rest of our time exploring and going to the pool parties. It was one of my favorite years! However, we didn’t go home until Tuesday. Monday we slept for almost 18 hours straight. I highly, highly recommend giving yourself all of Monday to recover from such an epic weekend.




The speedway is not a hop, skip and a jump away.

You will have to take a motorized vehicle to the event. If you plan on driving yourself…do not, I repeat do not take the freeway! I’ll repeat it again just to make sure you realize how important this is…do not take the freeway. You will not get out of the event for hours. Instead, take N Las Vegas Blvd all the way out to the back of the venue. There is a smaller parking lot back there that you can only access from the south. If you go farther north on the freeway and try to double back cops, yes cops, will turn you around. Take the extra time getting there to save yourself hours of hassle trying to get back to your hotel after a night of partying. The shuttle is a nice option if your group doesn’t want to rent a car. It takes a good amount of time on your way back, but still not nearly as long as trying to get out of the main parking lot. I know this from first-hand experience.


Be nice to the security guards.

They have the power to make or break your experience. A little extra kindness will get you a long way; they may even let you take in the candy in your bag you forgot to hide. Remember that they are there to help. At the end of the first night in 2011 security guards were moving around taking binkies from girls. Most of them were pretty upset. That is until I pointed out that security wasn't doing this to be mean, they were doing it because it is considered drug paraphernalia which gives the cops reason to hassle you. While I am not very trusting of cops overall, not all of them are bad. Although Nevada has one of the strictest drug laws, Las Vegas cops are used to ridiculousness, so as long as you are not blatantly causing trouble they will leave you alone. To be honest some of them cops I think actually enjoy working at the event, I’ve seen more than a few taking videos of the artist sets and even pictures with ravers.

Some of my thoughts on rave attire…

One of the most fun things about music festivals is picking out and making costumes! I personally make just about all of my own outfits, even sell some custom pieces to friends. For better and worse, just about anything goes when it comes to what people will wear to raves. The list of possibilities of what to wear is endless and entirely up to your  person preference. For ideas I’d recommend Pintrest for DIY outfits or Etsy for handmade outfits, you can even get ones custom to your style. Kromatik Armor is one of my favorite custom made rave wear.
What I do want to talk about is things to consider when picking out an outfit.

It gets cold!

Las Vegas is in the desert, this means that it is unbearably hot during the day and freezing at night. Although you may look good showing a lot of skin, be ready for a lot of goosebumps along with that.


It gets hot!
When you are in the middle of a crowd of thousands of people dancing the night away you are going to get warm, fast. You are going to sweat, a lot. Girls, you need to take this into consideration when spending hours on your hair and make-up. I guarantee that you will end up with your hair up in a messy bun and your make up all over your face. Waterproof does not mean sweat-proof.

People are going to stare.

Festivals are one of my favorite places to people watch. Not because I’m judging, but because is amazing to see all the things people come up with! Speaking of which, while at a rave keep your judgments to yourself. PLUR is what rave culture is based on so please help keep it alive. Also, if you like someone’s outfit go tell them! Most people work really hard on what they are wearing and love getting compliments.

Comments on body parts can be a bit more awkward though. If someone comes up and respectfully compliments you on your body just graciously accept it. Derogatory comments of course are a whole other story though. It’s a bit weird at first to be openly complimented, but why are you showing it off if not for people to admire? Serious though girls, if you are wearing pasties and a thong, neither you nor your boyfriend have any right to get mad when someone is staring or even says something, as long as it is respectful and polite. However, some people have no concept of respect and take it past staring and move onto touching. I’m hoping this is common sense, but people shouldn’t touch without asking. If they do, yes call them out on it. But boys, don’t pick a fight. Getting kicked out isn’t worth it.


Things are going to break.

The more extravagant your outfit, the more pieces it has, the more likely it is to get ruined. Like I said it’s crowded at EDC which means you are going to get bumped, a lot. Your outfit could snag on anything from another person’s costume to the fence you were leaning on to even another piece of your outfit. Let it go and don’t let it ruin your night if it does.

Have fun with it!

Wear what makes you happy, even if it is a bit out there. Music festivals are one of the few times that you can so freely express yourself.

Las Vegas is a whole other world 

compared to most cities.

There are a couple of general aspects of this crazy city to consider during EDC.

The strip is long!

When we stayed at The Luxor we spent far too much of our time just getting to the other hotels that hosted the pool parties. Make sure to get a hotel in the middle if you are planning on attending the day events.

 
The food is expensive and not good at all.

Our solution in 2012 was to bring some food and keep it in the fridge. Of course The Luxor wouldn’t give us a fridge so our premade pasta was only good for a single dinner. What I did find to be the perfect food to bring was Costco muffins! They are moist and delicious, the perfect rave snack before our 3 hours of sleep.




 
Over the years I have had the most amazing times at EDC, both Los Angeles and Las Vegas alike. I have since stopped attending, mostly because I feel there are so many more festivals I want to experience and places I want to go. Unfortunately I have a limited amount of time and money to do all of it. However, I really hope this will help make the EDC Las Vegas experience that much better!