I went to the Electric Daisy Carnival Orlando (EDCO), and I had the most incredible time. I first heard about EDCO last year after I watched all my mutual friends post the most colorful, smile-filled photos, and I was immediately entranced. I wanted to be a part of it. My whole life I have loved music, dancing and celebrations, so it was probably no surprise to my mom when I asked her, “Mom, will you come to Bonnaroo with me?” My mom, being so cool and just awesome, agreed. So, at the beginning of June, my mother and I headed to the middle of Tennessee to dance in the forest, under the stars and to see my favorite artist. Within the four days of Bonnaroo, a love for EDM, or electronic dance music, awoke in me. This meant that this upcoming year I had to be a headliner (what they call the participants) at EDCO.
After multiple plans of mine with others fell through, I finally decided to just rip off the Band-Aid and do it myself. I booked a one-room Airbnb, signed up to volunteer with End Overdose and was hunkered down the week prior, stressing away at the assignments and exams that loomed ahead. That Friday, November 8, I drove down to Orlando from Gainesville, Florida, at 3:30 pm. With only myself and my four bags in tow, I traveled through sunset and winding roads to arrive at the credential pick up just in time at 6:30 pm. I cannot even begin to express how excited I was, literally jumping with joy as I saw “staff pick-up.” I felt a part of something important. After that, I drove to my Airbnb, which I ended up switching to stay with some friends of mine, and hurriedly got ready to head to the festival to hopefully catch some of Timmy Trumpet’s set. As a volunteer/staff member, I got my own parking pass off-site as well as a shuttle to the festival ground, so after I hopped on and off the shuttle for day one, I finally got to glimpse the spectacle that was EDCO in full force. Let me just tell you: it was unreal, the lights, the music. You could literally feel the bass and beats throughout your whole body. Throughout the three days of the festival, I have some takeaways.Â
Be a staff member or volunteer if you can – you get a comped ticket, access to VIP areas and private catering (there were literally froyo machines and a juicer). In addition to that, you get to take a break from what is the beast of EDCO even in the thick of it. For example, there were moments when I was so overstimulated, tired and hangry that I needed to just lie down and be alone. That is a hard ask when you are at a rave with over 100,000 people, but being a member of staff meant I got to slip away from the calamity and have moments to decompress. To add, Incomianic took the most magnificent care of the staff and attention to crafting a magical three days and nights. Beyond the personal benefits, volunteering was actually one of the best parts of the festival for me. I got to see the beauty of the rave community spreading joy and love, and I had the opportunity to befriend the most creative, wonderful people. Another takeaway is to be open-minded: I came in with somewhat of an idea for certain artists I had to see and ended up enjoying the ones I stumbled across far more. For me, some of the sets that I saw were not planned: Zomboy and Sullivan King. These ended up being the sets that made the festival for me, yet they weren’t even on my radar. When I tell you the Circuit Ground Stage became home, I mean it. I discovered I am a bass fiend, headbanged so hard I almost puked, danced my way to 3 new workout records on my Apple Watch and lost my mind over a Dubstep remix of Charli XCX’s “Guess.”Â
One of my final takeaways is that as breathtaking as EDCO was, it is A LOT. I would probably not recommend it as a first-time festival. The sheer amount of people means that for every couple of fabulous ravers you run into, at least a few nasty people who can ruin a night. Also, as the festival is in a city, that means it has to end by 12 am, which can be a bummer as EDM shows are far superior throughout the night. The city environment also means you have to pay for outside accommodations and get to and from them – I had roommates who had to wait 2 hours for an Uber. EDCO also does not allow reentry, which means you have to buy the overpriced food at the festival if you are averse to passing out from exhaustion. Finally, there is something so incredibly special about camping festivals that EDCO, in all its glory, could not supply. So, all in all, would I go again? 10/10, in a heartbeat; in fact, take me back RIGHT NOW!