The Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas kicked off on Friday (June 16) night. Until Sunday (June 18), and it’s fair to say that things got a bit out of hands.
Last weekend, over 400,000 people attended the EDC at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The festival, known as one of the largest electronic dance music festivals in the world, featured over 200 acts in eight large stages and many other musical areas on its 21st annual event.
Each day, an average of 135,000 attended the festival, who held performances from artists like Kygo, Above & Beyond, Alesso, Axwell ^ Ingrosso, Flux Pavilion, Porter Robinson, Afrojack, Major Lazer, and dozens more. Even Drake made a surprise appearance.
Now, internalize how massive the festival was. Music, carnival rides, art, light show, fireworks… Of course, things were going to get out of control. According to reports, a 34-year-old man called Michael Adam Morse died Saturday morning at the festival. The Clark County coroner’s office had yet to determine the cause of death by Monday morning.
The last time someone passed away at the festival was in 2015, and there have been seven fatal victims since the festival arrived in Las Vegas in 2011. Most of the deaths are related with overdosing.
Festival authorities reported that more than 1,000 people sought medical treatment during the three-night music festival. Among them, fifteen attendees and one employee – with a pre-existing condition – were taken to the hospital. Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that just on the first night of EDC, medical calls increased 129 percent compared to the same night at the festival in 2016. However, it’s not so hard to imagine lots of people collapsing when you notice the temperature reaching triple digits.
At least fewer people were arrested this year
Las Vegas police made 95 felony arrest over the course of EDC weekend. 29 felony arrests were made on Friday, all of them with drug charges. On Saturday, police made 28 felony arrests, 27 of which were narcotic-related. On Sunday, things got a bit wilder, with 38 people arrested on felony charges, and 34 of them were drug-related.
At the 2016 festival, 129 people were arrested, so this year either people behaved better, or they just got better at hiding and dealing with narcotics.
Additionally, organizers say 282 people were ejected from the festival.