So I just got back from Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and all I can say is that it was definitely an experience. A few weeks back, Carla (my bff and current roommate) asked me if I would be interested in working at EDC this year, since I had never been and this way I could go for free. Of course I said yes, a free festival and a chance to go to a state I've never been to? Hell yeah. Our job consisted of handing out maps to festival attendees at the gate of the festival on Friday and Saturday from 7:00pm-12:00am, the rest of the time we could enjoy the festival. We left Los Angeles on Friday morning at around 11:00am. We were making pretty good time, and even had a chance to stop by Seven Magic Mountains in Nevada, an art piece that consists of towers of huge, bright, colorfully painted rocks.
Of course by the time we got to Vegas and figured out where we were supposed to go, we had no time to check into or even find our hotel. Carla and I got ready in the bathroom of the hotel we had to go to in order to check in and get our staff wristbands, which was not the one we were staying at. On this day I wore a custom daisy top by A Creative Wonderland and a pair of purple shorts, I had also decided to wear my holographic sneakers from Aldo that day, a decision I would regret for the remainder of the festival. We parked pretty far and had no idea how to get to where we needed to be. We walked so much that by the time we got to the site, my feet were already killing me. While going through the staff entrance, I met my first YouTube celebrity (that I actually knew), Sophia Chang. Our interaction was brief, but she seemed nice. She asked me what my name was and said it was nice to meet me. Pretty cool considering that I've been watching her videos for years. I didn't even know that she's literally my height, how cute! Next came standing and handing out maps for 5 hours, which was nearly impossible with how much pain my feet were in. Carla came up to me every time I sat down for a moment to tell me that the people who were in charge of our department were complaining about me. I didn't care, they weren't coming to me directly and I was in pain, so I continued to take breaks to sit down, while still handing out maps. I honestly probably handed out more maps than everyone else together because I was so smiley and friendly despite being in pain, of course people wanted a map from the adorable half naked girl.
Finally we got into EDC for day one! I had heard that this festival was big, but it was HUGE. It was literally like a Disneyland of ravers, lights, music, dancing, characters, fireworks and endless areas to explore. We went on a few rides while we waited for our first staff meal to start, since the lines were short at that time. The meal was pretty good! It was nice that they had some vegan options and they even had to-go boxes for us to take some leftovers back to the hotel, the only thing that sucked was having to carry the box or leave it somewhere and hope no one throws it out. The night was long because of course everyone wanted to stay until the end which was about 6:00am. The weather was in the 70s, which was nice but the wind blew dust into my eyes, making wearing my contacts unbearable. I was so grateful that I had remembered to bring my glasses just in case, and ended up ripping out my contacts and throwing them away because of how much pain my eyes were in. By about 4:30am, I had retired to the bleachers where you could sit and watch the Cosmic Meadow stage, but also take a cold nap because you're on bleachers. When my friends were done for the night, we headed back to the car and got lost on the way there (naturally), causing my feet to be in so much pain, my eyes began to water. We finally got back to the car and eventually back to the hotel room. When I took off my shoes, my feet were extremely swollen and full of blisters. Not cute.
Day two was way better. We worked a little bit longer than the first day but it felt like it was shorter because I had gone to Target and bought a comfy pair of black Keds-look-a-likes. On this day I wore the All Seeing Chakra top by A Creative Wonderland and a pair of holographic shorts with lace up detailing on the sides. Carla was super hungry when we got into the festival, so we first headed for the staff food area to eat while we froze our half naked asses off in the overly air conditioned building-like tent. After eating, we saw Zeds Dead at Cosmic Meadow, which had now become my favorite stage since it was view-able from the bleachers. I stayed there for the next set while everyone else wandered off and gathered my energy to go find the Hooptown Hottie's Flash Mob. I saw about half of Illenium's set, which was absolutely beautiful and made me feel like I was in one of the magical looking videos you always see of EDC on YouTube. I met up with Carla during the search for the meetup spot for the hoop flash mob, then lost her again. I couldn't find the meet up spot on my own, but ended up finding a small group of hoopers to hang out with. We hooped and chatted and eventually spotted the flash mob coming our way. We all joined in the line and as soon as I did, I was right next to Carla. The flash mob was a bit unorganized since clearly hardly anyone had watched and practiced the choreography from the video we were emailed. But Morgan did a great job of leading everyone with a megaphone. Overall it was really fun and I glad that I was able to participate. The rest of the night I mostly hung out at the Cosmic Meadow stage on the bleachers to rest my feet. I ended up meeting back up with the group when I went to get food and they were already in the food tent.
The third day was the best, especially because after the first day, I really didn't think I was going to make it the whole weekend. We also didn't have to work this day, so we got to go right into the festival and didn't feel rushed to get there on time. I started off the day with some swimming at our hotel's pool, which got me in a great mood to begin with. After this, I showered and we all began getting ready for the festival, packed our stuff into the car and headed off. For the last day, I wore an Eyekini by A Creative Wonderland and a pair of black booty shorts. After we all got there and got food, I immediately headed for the bleachers and told the group that on this day, I would be on my own. After hanging out on the bleachers for a bit, I headed over to the Neon Garden stage. This immediately became my new favorite stage, as it was filled with techno and house music. I had visited this stage on the first day and hung out in VIP a little. But this time VIP was closed, so I was forced to be on the dance floor, which ended up being amazing. I had so much fun dancing, hooping and vibing with the crowd. And then up in VIP, I spotted my friend Briana who had been hired as a gogo dancer for the event! I was so happy to see her and made sure to take a long Snapchat video of her (since my phone's regular camera wasn't working still). After this I headed over to see Rezz at Circuit Grounds. Her set was mind-blowing. I was able to get up to the super VIP section so I was really close to her and practically on the stage during her set. Here I was able to both sit down on nice, comfy couches, and stand up to hoop. I had originally planned to meet back up with the group at Rezz's set, but I wasn't able to find them and still had no service on my phone. I asked a couple of unhelpful security guards if I could use their phone to contact my friends but was ultimately unsuccessful. I decided to just enjoy the rest of the set and figure out how to contact them later. I ended up finding them on the bleachers when I returned there after Rezz's set, and we all left the festival from there.
Crochet Tops by: A Creative Wonderland (@acreativewonderland) https://www.etsy.com/shop/Acreativewonderland
Pink Day Hoop by: Lunar Landings (@lunarlandings710) https://www.etsy.com/shop/LunarLandings?ref=l2-shopheader-name
Photos by: Carla Claure (@hoopicorn) and Cody Cardarella (@opticalsensei)
