EDC Reports Zero Deaths For Second Year In A Row
The main stream media likes to make electronic dance music festivals out to be awful events rife with drug overdoses, illicit sex, and death. Coverage of this kind has certainly decreased in recent years as major music festivals have grown in size and harm reduction efforts have become more popular; but, nonetheless, unfortunate deaths still occur. That being said, for the second year in a row, EDC Las Vegas reported zero deaths at its annual festival.
When EDC moved to Las Vegas in 2011, it experienced a period of transition that involved having to deal with the intense heat of the Vegas desert. Deaths in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017 certainly marred the festival, but it always bounced back.
Then, in 2018, EDC moved the festival up a month to May in an attempt to combat the heat — and it worked. The festival reported zero deaths in 2018. This year, once again, EDC reported zero deaths for the second year in a row.
While this could be contributed a lot to the cooler weather, EDC’s own staff onsite providing medical care is some of the best of any festival in the world. Medical personnel roam the festival from dusk to dawn, and a fully stocked medical facility is also found on the festival grounds, with emergency room doctors, nurses, EMTs and paramedics.
History unfortunately dictates that zero deaths is something to be celebrated, rather than the norm. However, perhaps it’s beginning to shift more in that direction.
Congratulations to EDC on another successful year, and we look forward to returning under the electric sky in 2020!