First time at EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) Las Vegas - any tips?

June 2, 2012 4:28 PM

First time at EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) Las Vegas - any tips?

I've been to Las Vegas before. I've been to Tiesto in clubs before.

But I've never been to a 3 day rave in Las Vegas.

Has anyone been to EDC Las Vegas?

Any tips or best practices?

Some duh kind of questions I have:
1. Is there a way to get the per-night lineup?
2. Aside from Google Maps, etc - are there any secret tips to driving there from the strip?
3. Aside from the do not bring list - what should I bring? Or, what did you regret bringing/not bringing?

posted by bluelava to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Bring: A beach towel, sunscreen, sunglasses/visor, a water bottle, ear plugs, cash. If you're going to be there at night, you might want to bring a jacket, or maybe a long sleeves shirt. It can get a bit chilly in the desert at night, I think.

Don't buy drugs from people you don't know at big raves. The chances of you getting anything that isn't fake is not very good, and a lot of the fake stuff is actually dangerous these days, which hasn't always been the case.

Don't just hang around the main stages. A lot of the best music is going to be in the smaller stages with lesser known djs. Don't forget to find a place where you're going to be comfortable dancing and actually dance, and don't stare at the stage for 3 days :)
posted by empath at 4:42 PM on June 2, 2012

Response by poster: Should've mentioned - def won't be doing drugs. I know someone who od'ed on e and died. :(
posted by bluelava at 4:53 PM on June 2, 2012

Read the list of stuff not to bring, as well as backpack size limitations. It's all at night, so you won't need sunblock/sunglasses, etc. They won't let you bring in unsealed chapstick, which made me buy three new lip balm things, one for each night. You also can't bring in your own water bottle unless it's an Insomniac one, but they have water stations everywhere and sell water everywhere. Wear sneakers.

Things I brought last year and would bring again: cash, ear plugs, tissues, chapstick, extra earplugs for friends, hand sanitizers (only sealed/new), and glow in the dark stuff (those glow in the dark bracelets are awesome when you're in the dark port-a-potties).

If you're going with friends, figure out meeting places when you get there. Seriously. Because it's very likely your phones will not be getting reception and it can take your texts forever to get to places.
posted by loulou718 at 5:40 PM on June 2, 2012

My friends and I always print out an itinerary of the groups we plan to see before we go to the raves. That way if we lose anyone or if we split apart, we know what stage the main group will be at any specific time. This combined with a meeting spot as mentioned above is very helpful. You know how phone calls and texts get during raves..
posted by lain at 7:11 PM on June 2, 2012

Best answer: You might try browsing through the EDC subreddit, and trying out the search function. Aside from the general chat, there are lots of threads on practical stuff like that.
posted by aldebaran at 9:57 PM on June 2, 2012