Marc's Blog: festivals - My 10th EDC Vegas In A Row!

Back for another year:

This was my 10th EDC Vegas, time flies! And in these 10 years, EDC has become bigger every year, to the point that the 2026 edition fully sold out in less than 3 days. I'm not going to repeat what I already wrote in the previous EDCs I've been to, except that this year again, they've done a good job mixing things around and keeping things fresh.
The one thing I have to mention for trance lovers, is that in the last years, it's been clear that Trance has been shrinking slowly world wide. This is to the point that it's gone from Untold, which had the best Trance lineup of any mainstream festival, it stopped being relevant there several years back at Tomorrowland, and when I went to Parookaville, there wasn't much trance either. The list goes on...
So, even I'm a bit stuck on classic trance and I'm a bit sad to see it slowly disappear from many festivals, it wasn't very surprising that similar things are happening at EDC. Last year was the first time that the 3 days of classic Trance at Quantum Valley, were dropped to 2, and this year, depending on how you count, there was maybe 1-1.5 day combined (although day 1 did have half a day of lovely psytrance, which I believe is new). So yeah, we're not getting the 3 days of non stop Trance at Quantum Valley anymore, but Dreamstate is still a thing, just with evolving sounds, some are classic trance, some are psytrance, and newer sounds like Maddix. Also, let's keep in mind that:

I'm not counting psytrance as trance, because to me they are different. I actually like psytrance quite a bit, so I'm not sad at all to see more of it.

we got 2 2-day dreamstates this year, one in SF and the Socal one still coming up (plus some other single day ones across the US), so we can definitely be thankful for that, and that's not even counting some extra special dreamstate events like another one coming in SF in July

EDC itself did have more trance at other stages, so you had to walk around to go find it :)

And let's not forget that Tiesto played Trance for 1.5H to close EDC. How huge is that?

So while it's evolving and it doesn't have the 3 days of classic trance at QV anymore, there was plenty of other music to check out, which is not a bad thing actually, that's my best place to check out other EDM genres in one location, and for the mere wow factor and spectable, I'll repeat that EDC is the best night festival in the world.

This year, as something new, I tried the Salvage City Supper Club that was located by Wasteland. It was an interesting idea and fun, but ultimately it felt somewhat expensive for the end experience and food. But if money is no issue, definitely worth giving it a shot. Read up on more Salvage City Supper Club here

The Grounds:

Let's start with the grounds, which change a little bit every year, but no reason to get lost this year ;)

The insomniac folks aren't lazy, they come up with different stage designs every year. Here are some pictures from this year:

Of course, lots of fun areas to visit, especially in the VIP areas:

trinket trade got way too popular since last year :)

the VIP concierge area at Kinetic field was way too crowded

Kandi stations and Casino:

kandi stations

kandi casino was even more popular this year!

Passport was nicely setup like each year:

And because people get confused when they see this picture, this is not VIP but Skydeck, an uber VIP for people with too much money and trying to find creative ways to spend it :)

And all the lit up areas of course:

enjoying the new downtown EDC

Pixel Forest was moved this year and looked different:

A few vendors, like every year:

EDC still has the most rides of any festival I've been to. Fun!

And the many side quests:

Elevated views are of course very enjoyable:

Other views:

Fireworks and Drones

The drones did more work this year, that was nice:

The fireworks were great like every year:

Day 1 Fireworks:

Day 2 Fireworks:

The People

One of my favorite things of US festivals, are the costumes people come with, and EDC is one of the best for that:

this looked not comfortable to walk in, dedication :)

winning totem :)

bad ass!/

haha :)

funny, we found the same animation independently ;)

this is the way!

And we did our usual Trancefamily SF meetup:

The Insomniac Entertainers were great, as always:

And of course, it's always a good excuse to take pictures with friends ;)

Thor!

more LEDs!

And DJs :)

David Forbes

Paul was still amused ;)

Yoji, still being funny ;)

I was ready for Ben Nicky this time around ;)

The Maddix b2b Ben Nicky was epic!

First time seeing James Hype!

Even random only ended up on his youtube event summary: https://youtu.be/a62xtWjVUrY

And as always, many picture opportunities:

the bees were overachieving :)

Day #1

Day1, let's go!

Video Summary:

Day 1 Fireworks:

Day #2

Unfortunately, right after Miyuki's set, the wind picked up and Quantum Valley was somehow not built in a wind resistant way, which was slightly puzzling given that high winds have been semi frequent at EDC. As a result, QV was shut down for multiple hours, and we unfortunately missed a few sets as a result:

But other stages kept going:

thankfully QV was reopened later that night, in time for Maddix B2B Ben Nicky

Finished the night with TDJ at Bionic Jungle

Video Summary:

Day 2 Fireworks:

Day #3

One more night, night 3!

le youth, I had never heard before, interesting dreamy set

then, more techno with Miss Monique

Then came time for Armin at Kinetic Fields:

got a good spot, right in front of the uber VIP skydeck (the ones with the half million packages)

Back to Quantum Valley:

And then it was time to end the night with Tiesto's In Search of Sunrise Trance Set!

sunrise coming

And just like that, after a beautiful sunrise with Tiesto, the 3 days were over:

Video Summary:

Should you go? Would I go Back?

One thing I have to say about this year, is it felt more crowded, even the VIP areas were quite busy. It was not a huge issue to watch the sets, but the amenities in VIP were quite full with long waits. EDC is becoming popular, maybe too popular. This does not mean you shouldn't go or I won't go back, but it's probably reasonable not to expect to enjoy some of the more popular attractions, since they may require long lines to get in.

At this point, note that the text below is mostly the same as last years, since it's still valid :)

EDC Vegas is probably the most impressive EDM Night Festival in the world. Tomorrowland is a rival but it's not a night festival as more challenges I'm not as much a fan of (never mind of course the distance for me or the fact that you mostly can't buy tomorrowland tickets, while you can for EDC, although as of 2025 you have to be fast since they sold out in 3 days).

Like previous times:

Decors are just fantastic, along with so many performers. That's the best part about EDC. Even better now that I know and recognize some of the performers (Hi Pixie)

Like other insomniac festivals, all the staff truly cares and goes all out. Many small details that get sometimes missed elsewhere, are usually flawless. I'll even add that actually they are the most detail oriented, over achieving people I have seen. The amount of small details I absolutely do notice, how every corner of the racetrack is used for decors, the amount of light strings and LEDs, across ridiculous distances, and it just works all night, every night (nothing seems to ever break)!?!? I have no words. And seriously, if you know anything about LED strings and wind and moving them, you should know how amazing it is that they don't break!

This year again, security was more than reasonable as usual, thank you. Enough police onsite to help keep things safe, I personally like that.

19:00 to 05:30 is 10:30h of partying for 3 days, lots of fun! Actually first day does start at 17:00 (Cosmic Meadows only), and the next 2 days that used to start at 17:00 do not anymore, but I'm sure that for those at Camp EDC, there are plenty of parties there. The one sad thing is that shuttles start 30mn later (18:30), so it's near impossible to get to EDC by 19:00 and see the first DJ anymore.

So many free carnival rides, lots of fun, but the lines were too long for most, wasn't able to justify spending the time in line to enjoy them.

Still so many stages (around 15 if you include art cars, and passport)

Is it still worth flying across the world for? Yes, absolutely, there is nothing else like this on earth. Then again, maybe I should tell you not to come anymore, as it's getting full and sold out in just 3 days this year.

Conclusion/Other thoughts

Thoughts about this year:

Not fixed this year: please give exact GPS pin locations for the projected shuttle stops. Sometimes they are 1 mile away from the fake address given and it really makes a difference when picking hotels. Even if this cannot be given many months in advance, at least send the actual shuttle location (GPS pin) to all people who bought shuttle passes, as soon as possible.

Not fixed this year: I'm sure you read the comments on people with a very bad experiences and serious medical issues (heat exhaustion) related in Camp EDC. Given the cost of those, please make sure they have proper shade, burning man style, or it's not going to work and continue to ruin the experiences of people who can't deal with that amount of heat in the day <= disappointing that shade structures were not added this year and people still overheated with AC units that could not keep up with full sun.

New this year: VIP and GA sold out in just a few hours and went to tier 9 very quickly. Sadly the frontgate queuing system did not seem to work on cell phones (you got kicked out and never seemed to be in queue), nor did it ever show you what number you were in line. I hope they fix it.

Cell phone service was actually worse than previous years, it was easy to get 0 signal for hours in a row. Given how many people are in the same place (150K?), clearly EDC needs some portable emergency cell sites. I'm sure that costs a little bit, but can't be a huge percentage of the overall budget. And before you ask me why I can't enjoy the show and why I need cell phone, try meeting with friends that you have lost or trying to reconnect with. Good luck with that. I realize this is the "burning man way", but I wouldn't consider EDC burning man :)

WIFI was unfortunately worse than previous years. VIP wifi mostly didn't work for any of the 3 days. I make no claim that providing wifi is easy with that many people, but given the right IT folks and equipment, it is very possible to do a lot better.

first it was password incorrect

and then this for most of the time

also this

I loved Quantum Valley this year again, very nicely done, even if there was a lot less trance this year. The only slightly puzzling thing was why it was so vulnerable to wind when the Insomniac crews are well aware that EDC often experiences high winds, which have caused shutdowns in the prior years already. Hopefully this can be kept in mind for future stage designs (most other stages were not affected, thankfully)

But I also have to mention that Quantum Valley is not the 3 day trance stage anymore, sad but these are the present times. Still, overall QV had an enjoyable mix of music, even if it had more techno than it needed in my opinion since the next door stage was already supposed to be the techno stage.

I'll repeat that all the insomniac staff and insomniac entertainers were top notch as always. I mean seriously they were jumping and smiling all night each time I saw them. I know it's their job, but kudos to them for having so much positive energy for so long.

Thank you to everyone at the insomniac team, all the performers, all the volunteers who put so much effort into making so many details right all over the place, with the great result that we all got to enjoy..

Pictures of all 3 days: https://photos.app.goo.gl/b2bR5SPSzJgLCNPz9

Pictures of the grounds and people: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FAypKVYoKUTcqyiv6

Concatenation of all the IG stories I recorded during the event: https://youtu.be/epOHZjXiV9o

Summary of Day #1: https://youtu.be/HXBUgcLr1Pk

Summary of Day #2: https://youtu.be/sd4svTyh5uY

Summary of Day #3: https://youtu.be/nqEVijdmwAs

much love to our insomniac entertainers

So long, see you next time!