Party for 400,000? No problem

Las Vegas more than prepared for EDC

Party seekers from across the country will descend on Las Vegas for the Electric Daisy Carnival this weekend.

EDC is a three-day electronic music festival held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hosted by Insomniac Events and Live Nation, it’s expected to draw more than 400,000 people to the valley, Kelsi Ring, Insomniac’s communications coordinator, wrote in an email.

With the influx of music fans, local business and emergency services have to plan to manage crowds.

Security

The EDC crowd will be well watched over, according to Metropolitan Police Department officer Larry Hadfield.

Metro has been planning for the event — first held in Las Vegas in 2011 — with festival organizers for more than six months.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority,” Hadfield said. “We always are assessing major risks and looking at any intelligence for the event.”

Hadfield said the organizers employ a large number of law enforcement personnel for the event, along with emergency crews and EDC’S own security detail. The event also has a working hospital set up in the middle of the speedway.

Hotels

Jared Rapier, vice president of hospitality marketing for The Linq, Flamingo and The Cromwell, said the sheer number of people coming into town does influence the hotels. They’re hard to ignore; more than 50 percent of hotel guests at The Linq that weekend are EDC guests.

EDC

An analysis by Hotelscombined, a hotel metasearch engine, revealed that hotel prices in Las Vegas for EDC weekend are 21 percent higher than the weekend of June 9-12, with visitors paying an average of $173 per night.

Rapier said price changes during EDC weekend at The Linq are not unlike those during other large events or holidays.

“It’s the crowd that’s changing,” Rapier said.

Rapier said The Linq especially draws a large number of EDC visitors, in part due to the hotel’s partnership with Insomniac.

Additionally, The Linq’s target clientele comprises a younger generation of tourists, with ages that align with the EDC crowd. To help accommodate this group further during EDC week, Rapier said the hotel makes some minor changes to its programming.

“Room service has different hours because the guests come back at different hours than most guests,” he said.

Mary Hynes, director of corporate communications for MGM Resorts International, wrote in an email that this is the first year hotels on the Strip have partnered with EDC to offer special room rates. Mandalay Bay, owned by MGM Resorts, is offering a hotel package with access to the Daylight dayclub and the Light nightclub.

Hynes said EDC is a busy weekend for the hotels each year.

“With our new joint marketing efforts with EDC, we anticipate higher demand for rooms than we saw last year,” she said.

Medical

Dr. Dale Carrison said it’s really just another weekend in Las Vegas.

Carrison, chief of staff at University Medical Center, has been the medical director for the festival since it first came to town. During this year’s event, he’ll lead a team of eight emergency medical residents, five doctors and more than 20 nurses to treat as many patients as possible on location.

“The preparation and what you have available for the participants is the key for a successful event,” he said.

He said while drug-related incidents do happen, the majority of complaints are of dehydration and blisters caused by attendees’ elaborate outfits.

Last year, about 23 people were transferred to local hospitals.

“At any given weekend in Las Vegas, there’s at least two to three times that many transported off the Strip,” Carrison said.

As for the attendees, Carrison said their reputation as crazy party kids isn’t warranted.

“There’s always going to be somebody that takes drugs. There’s always going to be somebody who drinks too much, like there’s going to be at every casino and nightclub in town,” he said.

“(It’s) no different than what you see at the Strip any given weekend, except the crowds are better behaved. They’re all nice, and they say thank you.”

Food trucks

For food truck owners like Oliver Naidas, EDC is one of the busiest times of the year.

The founder of Sausagefest will bring three food trucks to the festival.

Naidas said he and his staff start preparing for the festival about a week in advance, making sauces and marinades from scratch and cutting an estimated 2,000 pounds of potatoes for their fries. It’s a necessary step when each truck serves about 1,000 people each day.

Naidas’ business has to pay a per-

centage-based fee for a spot. Naidas said the price has increased slightly this year, but his company still plans to return for its fourth year.

Because of the fees, customers can see a markup in prices at food trucks.

“Additional costs have to be offset in order for us to be profitable,” Naidas said.

Oming Pilas, owner of Oming’s Kitchen, said EDC has helped her business grow. She’s taken her food truck, which sells Filipino barbecue, to the festival three times and will make an appearance again this year.

“EDC was my second gig ever,” Pilas said. “I was able to join other festivals because we made money that year.”

“It’s really just the hype of it,” she said. “It’s good to be a part of that type of crowd.”

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383

0256. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter. Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.