EDC canceled for 2020, plans to return next May

The Electric Daisy Carnival won’t return to Las Vegas until May 2021, the electronic dance music festival’s founder announced Sunday.

Pasquale Rotella, founder of EDC producer Insomniac, announced the official postponement in an Instagram post. The festival will now take place between May 21-23 next year and will celebrate EDC’s 25th anniversary.

“I know you’ve been waiting a long time & I want to THANK YOU for being so patient,” Rotella wrote.

View this post on Instagram

@EDC_LasVegas UPDATE: I know you’ve been waiting a long time & I want to THANK YOU for being so patient. Some have questioned why we haven’t postponed yet & I want to let you know what we’ve been up to. The team & I have spent the last several months working to create a plan that would allow us to produce a safe event for you. We wanted to implement a free two-step testing program, one test at home before traveling to Las Vegas & another test at the venue when you arrived, in addition to many other enhanced safety protocols. Unfortunately, we just learned that the medical advances necessary to pull this off will not be ready in time, which is why I’m making this announcement today. Regardless, I’m proud of our team for continuing to believe & work so hard throughout the process. This whole experience has truly been a wild ride. Here I am, a rave promoter, finding myself talking to biopharmaceutical companies about diagnostic tests for a novel virus while working with Nevada’s most prominent government officials. I’ve felt a lot of pressure wanting to come through for all of you & after taking time to exhaust every possible option, I can feel confident knowing this is the right decision. We are officially postponing EDC Las Vegas 2020 & will be returning May 21+22+23 of 2021 to celebrate 25 years of EDC. To everyone who chose to hang onto their ticket & stick with us during this time, THANK YOU! You’re the most amazing community I could ever hope to be a part of. It means the world to me. We would not be able to do any of this without your support. All 2020 passes, including Camp EDC & shuttles, will be honored for the new 2021 dates & will automatically transfer over. For those who would like a refund, go to edclasvegas.com/verify. Because some of you won’t be able to make the rescheduled dates, any tickets for EDC Las Vegas 2021 that become available will go back on sale Thursday, August 6 at 10am PT. Insomniac has been built on never giving up. We’re already working hard on next year’s show & we’ll be back with more energy than ever for our 25 Year Celebration. Until then— Peace, Love, Stay Positive & I’ll See You Under the Electric Sky!💜✨

A post shared by Pasquale Rotella (@pasqualerotella) on Aug 2, 2020 at 9:57am PDT

EDC planners tried to implement a free “two-step testing program” that would require attendees to take one COVID-19 test at home and another after arriving in Las Vegas for the festival, Rotella explained in the post.

“Unfortunately, we just learned that the medical advances necessary to pull this off will not be ready in time, which is why I’m making this announcement today,” he wrote.

EDC was originally set to take place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 15-17, but was rescheduled for Oct. 2-4 amid coronavirus concerns. The festival issued refunds for 2020 tickets.

Insomniac planned to host its largest EDC festival yet in 2020, occupying even more of the speedway grounds in an event that was expected to draw over 450,000 fans this year.

Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0365. Follow @MaxMichor on Twitter.