Attending a festival can be some of the happiest times in your life, however planning for a festival can be a trying/grueling task. We’re here to help you get through planning with ease. Although EDCLV (Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas) is coming up fairly soon as I’m writing this blog post, I thought it would be helpful to share my exact planning guide on how I efficiently and successfully plan for EDCLV. EDCLV 2023 will be my 10th time attending this specific festival so I believe I have created the perfect planning schedule that has made attending EDCLV less stressful.
Step 1: Buying your tickets
When it comes to EDCLV, the first step you’d like to conquer is buying your tickets! As of lately, tickets have been known to sell out fairly quickly. Typically ticket presales begin within weeks of the prior years festival. For example ticket sales for EDCLV2023 would take place within the month after Day 3 of EDCLV2022. So while you’re still on the high of having just attended EDCLV (or if you’re at home and have FOMO), start planning for the next years festival!
Tickets come in 3 different tiers – GA (General Admission), GA+, and VIP.
I have purchased all 3 tickets in the past and have developed opinions for each tier.
GA –
General admission is great because more affordable, you can spend time in the crowd, and you overall get the basic festival experience that we all have grown to love and crave. However, my main complaint is PORTO POTTYS. YUCK.
GA+ –
General admission plus is a little bit pricier than GA (about a couple hundred more$$) because has it’s perks such as expedited entry, shorter bathroom lines, and *upgraded toilets. Which I starred this because over time these upgraded toilets just become glorified Porto Pottys which again – YUCK! Actually they might be worse that Porto Pottys because they are lit up so now you can see the TERRORS!
VIP –
VIP is the priciest tier with about a $500ish increase from basic GA tickets. The amenities include private elevated viewing areas, bathroom trailers which are usually cleaned and restocked periodically throughout the festival, exclusive VIP food trucks, vendors located inside VIP which make for shorter lines, free amenities (ear plugs, beauty supplies, VIP lanyards, etc.) this changes every year, and free coffee and donuts at the Kinetic Field stage at 4-5AM every day. After experiencing VIP once, we are now spoiled and only ever want to do VIP so BEWARE$$$.
Now that you’ve seen the different tiers, make your choice and purchase those tickets! After you’ve completed this step, time for Step 2!
Step 2: Lodging
The next step is booking your lodging! I suggest doing this AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, like, literally, the same day that you buy your tickets (if financially feasible)!!! The competition is FIERCE and the prices for everything will go up IMMEDIATELY!
Okay, so where is it that you want to stay? On the strip? Closer to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway? Camp EDC? The choice is yours and will change the experience you have entirely!
Hotels
Typically for my stay during EDCLV, I like to stay at any of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. This is my own personal preference because, for me, part of the fun of EDCLV is getting to enjoy Vegas. I love visiting all the restaurants, casinos, day-clubs, and the rest that the strip has to offer.
My pro-tip for staying in Vegas hotels: I’ve joined all of the members programs dedicated to each of the different hotel franchises (Mlife Rewards for MGM properties, Caesar’s Rewards, Identity Rewards for the Cosmopolitan, etc.) This allows for me to get comped nights and great discounts at these great hotels. I’ve saved thousands of dollars doing this!
Rentals
Booking a rental property is a great option for if you have a lot of people going with you in your group. I have not done this option for EDCLV myself, but I would assume it’s a great choice since you can choose a property closer to the speedway to minimize your travel time and travel expenses to EDCLV. I would suggest booking early as choices will book up quickly.
Camp EDC
Camp EDC is the fairly new addition to your lodging choices, I’ve never experienced this myself but it seems like a fantastic option. You are able to book shiftpods (glamped up tents), or RV camping. Camp EDC will be your budget friendly travel option considering you can now just walk right into EDCLV all 3 festival days. There are so many different pre-festival activities to do and food vendors to visit. The party never stops in CampEDC (at least so I’ve heard) so this seems like a great option for those that want the complete EDCLV experience.
Now that you’ve secured your EDC tickets and booked your lodging, let’s move on to step 3.
Step 3: Flights
Unless you are a Las Vegas/Nevada resident, chances are that you will be needing to travel to Las Vegas. As someone who used to drive 10 hours from Northern California to Las Vegas every year for EDC, I do understand that driving is an option so if this is your jam, more power to you and may your drive be a safe one!
However, now as a 29 year old who craves comfort and ease > cost saving, I prefer to fly into Vegas to maximize my vacation time! If you are like me and plan on flying in to Vegas, then I suggest you mark your calendars to 9 months before EDCLV. This is because flight times aren’t typically released until about 9 months ahead of time. So around September, you should be checking to see if flights have started to become available for booking.
Believe me, I still love saving money which I why I use my travel credit cards to earn points to use towards my flights. For EDC2023, I only had to spend $35 total on our roundtrip flights with Southwest! Another thing that I do to save money is that after booking my flights with Southwest, I will periodically check if there has been any price reductions on my flights. Southwest does not charge you for changing your flight so I will go in change my flight to the same exact flight but at a cheaper cost. Please keep in mind, Southwest will only give back a travel voucher, not a refund, but I alway find a way to make use of these travel vouchers for my next flights. By doing this trick, I’ve received $150 in travel vouchers in the last year which is the equivalent to a free roundtrip flight! How can you complain about that?!
Now onto step 4 of your planning.
Step 4: Transportation
Next up is transportation!
For those of you who choose driving their own cars/renting a car to drive to and from the speedway, this is a great and standard option. Parking is free unless you pay for premium parking which will be closer and easier to get out of at the end of the day. Believe me, EDCLV parking lot traffic is no joke (once waited 2 hours trying to get out of the parking lot). Please remember: DO NOT DRIVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE!
For those of you who chose to stay in Camp EDC, have a lovely short walk to and from the festival grounds. Why don’t I ever choose this option?!
Now, the option I usually choose is to take the EDC Shuttles! I love this option because, hello, NO DRINKING AND DRIVING! They have 2 shuttle options Standard or Premium. Standard is about $100ish cheaper but lines can be very long during peak times! Premium (the option I usually choose) has set pickup and drop off times that you select when buying your tickets and comes included with some EDC goodies that you receive at the shuttle locations. These locations are located throughout the Las Vegas strip at specific hotels so make sure to book accordingly.
Now that we’ve decided on transportation, let’s move on to the final step of EDCLV Planning!
Step 5: Last Preparations & Receiving Your Tickets
Now time for the last of your preparations. Your EDCLV ticket boxes should be coming in the mail within the last 2-3 months before the festival. Nothing excites me more than that feeling of having your EDCLV box come in the mail!
By this time, you should be thinking outfits, accessories, and what to pack. Here I have linked my previous post describing what to bring to a music festival! This part of planning is my favorite part and will be unique to every individual so happy shopping!
Now that we’ve gone through the steps for planning your trip to EDC Las Vegas, I hope to see you all there this year!
