EDC PLANS FOR ORIGINAL DATES
It's been two years since the last EDM festival, and ravers all over are feeling the absence. Like last year's series of unfortunate cancellations, there are a few early EDM festivals that will set the expectations for the upcoming festival season. Shortly after Ultra Music Festival announced its plans to cancel this year's event, the infamous Electric Daisy Festival released its plans for 2021.
As of right now, it appears that the rumors are true: EDC plans to go ahead with the May 21-23 dates. In the last couple of months, there has been a lot of speculation that EDC has been prepared for the original dates, but it wasn’t until Insomniac CEO, Pasquale Rotella, released a statement confirming the rumors.
“I know a lot of you are looking for an EDCLV update, so yes, we're continuing to plan EDC Las Vegas & Beyond Wonderland for their scheduled dates. There continue to be new developments & we’re in constant communication with local officials. If things change, however, we have backup dates in place & I’ll let you know soon" Rotella commented on Instagram
All of this update was made through a thread of comments on the announcement for the new Abduction Festival in Orlando, Florida. The festival is planned to happen on April 10th, 2021. Even though this festival is on a much smaller scale, it will be an indication of how Insomniac plans to continue with EDC and Beyond Wonderland later this year.
As EDC is one of the largest festivals in the United States, this event will be the determining factor for how events will happen the rest of the year with larger-scale events. However, there are still a lot of unknowns about how large-scale events will be handled. All of this information depends on the local restrictions.
Earlier this month, the Governor of Nevada announced the easing of restrictions. This included the Las Vegas Motor Speedway allowing 20% capacity. As most people already know, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the home to the EDC event and community. Rotella also addressed Beyond Wonderland which is another major Insomniac festival in San Bernardino, California at the end of June. Even though Southern California has had plenty of Drive-in Raves over the last year, this will be one of the first live events in the state, as of right now.
Even though many fans were pressuring Insomniac to release an update on these festivals, the plan for the original dates took the EDM community by surprise. Many fans have condemned the announcement as being negligent, overpromising, and setting up the rave community for failure.
Due to the fast-changing nature of the pandemic, another announcement with more information is expected as the festival gets closer. The next few months will play a huge role in the decision to continue with the original festival dates or changes that need to be made. For more updates on the events, you can check in with Insomniac’s website.