Can there really be too much of a good thing—when it’s really good? When it comes to Vegas and The Electric Daisy Carnival, too much is probably not enough!
This year, Electronic Dance Music (EDM) fans do not have to wait the customary 12 months to dance “under the electric sky.” Fresh off a triumphal return to Sin City last October (last year’s event was delayed by COVID protocols), North America’s most celebrated electronic dance music celebration returns fresh with one of its biggest lineups ever. Spanning multiple stages over 3 days, EDC 2022 features over 300 artists—as well as an entirely new artists’ stage.
EDC 2022 lasts from Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22. This year marks the twelfth in which the festival has been held in Sin City, and it has proven to be a major tourist draw, with an estimated 150,000 revelers per day.
But it’s not just the presence of emerging EDM artists combined with the best of legacy acts that are the festival’s main draw: over time, The Electric Daisy Carnival has mushroomed into a genuine phenomenon—an event that almost invites sensory overload, with pulsating light and sound, interactive art installations, and strolling performance artists all intermingling in an experience unlike that to be found anywhere else.
Not to mention the Ferris wheels.
This year features a whole-hearted embrace of House music, and its numerous off-shoots, at the brand-new BIONICjungle stage, set between the neonGARDEN and Polygon Park stages. Featured performers will include techno-influenced DJ Bakke, legacy artist Mark Farina’s downtempo and Chicago house, and the legendary (and two-time Grammy award nominee) Felix da Housecat bringing his eclectic take on EDM in what is bound to be a memorable set.
The other eight stages feature a uniquely immersive sight and sound experience. The iconic main stage kineticFIELD boasts EDC’s biggest production effects, attracting fans of festival house and popular EDM tracks. Known for hosting its opening ceremony, the vast cosmicMEADOW, meanwhile, again features the year’s hottest names in electronic music and hip-hop.
Elsewhere, the bassPOD stage lives up to its name, with the best of today’s most invigorating dubstep, bass house, drum & bass, and trap. One can expect a different, majestic light show at each stage, pulsating in time to the music–as well as pyrotechnics galore.
And don’t forget the aerobics, yoga, hula-hoop classes, carnival rides. And if you want the full experience, get the festival pass and decline the Uber: the grounds include numerous camping amenities, from sites set up for more traditional RV Camping to EDC’s innovative ShiftPod2 tents, fully equipped with beds with linen as well as air-conditioning.
Insomniac, EDC’s promoters, know that in the competitive world of music and art festivals, it pays to innovate. They thus set a higher bar every year when it comes to creating not just a festival, but a genuine event. It’s kept EDC as the premier electronic music party, year after year.
It remains to be seen if this year’s EDC will top the estimated 400,000 total guests who attended last year’s gathering, but one thing is certain: EDC could last a month, and it wouldn’t be enough.
