Twelve days after restating their intention to hold Electric Daisy Carnival as planned May 21-23 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, organizers announced Tuesday night that the electronic dance music festival will move to October instead.
"I am sorry to say that EDC Las Vegas needs to move to October," Pasquale Rotella, founder and CEO of promoter Insomniac, posted on Instagram. He continued: "I want to thank everyone who has put their heart and soul into this show—the Insomniac team, artists, agents, managers, production crews, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway staff, the government officials who supported us, and most importantly, you, the Headliners."
The festival's 10th Las Vegas edition has now moved from May 2020 to October 2020 to May 2021 to October 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In his statement, Rotella went on to explain that the decision was made due to a newly revealed Clark County vaccine requirement for large events such as EDC. "As we expected and were assured prior to announcing the festival for May, Nevada state officials announced they would lift social distancing requirements as of May 1, creating a path for EDC to happen with strict safety guidelines in place. We just had a meeting in Las Vegas this past Friday with police, fire, medical, and other agencies involved with EDC to plan out details surrounding the event. However, today, Clark County (home of EDC & the Las Vegas Motor Speedway) passed a reopening plan that requires 60% of their residents to be vaccinated before restrictions over large scale gatherings such as EDC can be lifted. Unfortunately, the rate at which people get vaccinated before EDC is out of our control. It might happen in time, it might not. Either way, we can’t take that risk.
"Our team has been working around the clock to organize this event. We currently have over 40 trucks en route to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway from all over the country. The lineup is fully booked and was going to be announced tomorrow at 12pm PT. The team and I are heartbroken, as I know many of you are as well. For those who have stayed with us on this journey, I thank you. Your trust & loyalty is what gives us strength to keep moving forward."
Rotella then revealed the EDC's new 2021 dates: October 22-24, along with options for ticket holders to the sold-out event. "The good news is that EDC Las Vegas will still take place on the new dates of October 22-24, 2021. Your ticket will automatically be transferred to the new dates, or you may elect to receive a refund by clicking the link in my bio. If you have already transferred your ticket to 2022, your ticket will also be transferred to the new dates unless you choose to receive a refund. I continue to believe it’s important we get back out on the dancefloor as soon as possible, and I won’t give up on trying to make that happen. I will be announcing an AMA on Reddit in the near future to address any questions."
Predictably, reaction on social media was swift and mixed.
"RIP the hundreds I spent on plane tickets," one person Tweeted.
"Thanks for putting your heart and soul into this boss. I’m sure this works better for a lot people," Tweeted another.
