In 2020, all of the major music festivals that were forced to cancel due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 optimistically pushed their dates to 2021. Yet to the surprise of few, most of the rescheduled 2021 festivals had to cancel once again, refund or transfer tickets, and wait for the state of the public’s health to improve.
Last year would have marked the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Electric Daisy Carnival, better known as EDC, a Las Vegas electronic music festival, which hosts nearly half a million festival-goers over the course of the 3-day event.
Pasquale Rotella, Founder and CEO of Insomniac, one of the largest music festival organizations in the world, made a huge announcement Thursday on Instagram.
“With the world being shut down for over a year, I’m happy to announce we’re on our way to being able to celebrate in person. Book your flights, hotels, and shuttles – EDC Las Vegas is on for May 21+22+23!”
EDC is surely a grand experience, with lights, fireworks, rides and attractions, famous artists – and hundreds of thousands of bodies smashed into a sea of different crowds. With much of the nation’s population still unvaccinated and recent confirmed Nevada COVID cases up to 300,000, (according to recent reports by John Hopkins University) there seems to be no plausible way that this festival could be effectively and safely actionable.
Rotella further noted in his statement that Insomniac will be “moving forward as planned & will be working closely with local & state officials to make the show as safe as possible,” yet festival-goers can also “expect the full EDC experience with no details spared, from the festival grounds to the music, stages, art, performers, artists & fireworks.”
This bold announcement was made, however, despite Insomniac’s COVID-19 safety plan having been denied by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry (B&I), as it failed to meet capacity and social distancing requirements. According to Rotella, Insomniac submitted a “robust safety plan” to Nevada officials a week prior. This plan reportedly includes a designated “clean zone” where attendants will be verified as fully vaccinated or confirmed having had a negative COVID-19 test, via a mobile app.
EDC 2021 is currently sold-out, as tickets from last year’s proposed festival dates were simply transferred over to 2021. While Insomniac is an incredibly trusted and respected organization within the festival community, throwing together a large-scale event with hundreds of thousands in attendance, no solidified artist lineup, and unapproved safety protocols within 6 weeks of the event seems ever-so faintly akin to 2017’s Fyre Festival debacle. Sure, those in attendance of EDC Las Vegas won’t be stranded on a Bahamian island and lacking food, water, and adequate shelter, but the experience which Rotella promises does certainly seem both impractical and irresponsible.
