Photo Credit: Insomniac
As the War on Raves continues, multiple major news outlets are erroneously alluding via headlines that two people died at the Electric Daisy Carnival this weekend.
This is false.
The two deaths occurred outside of the festival which was held June 8-10 at the Las Vegas Speedway, but that hasn’t stopped breathless headlines from linking the popular EDM festival to the deaths. An article posted in the Associated Press and picked up by just about every major news organization had this title: 2 Electric Daisy Carnival revelers die in Vegas. In the article, we learn that these are two people that attended the Electric Daisy Carnival. The deaths didn’t occur at the festival, however.
The first tragedy happened outside the gates of the festival when a pedestrian was struck by a car. Reports say he had been drinking.
The second incident happened miles away at the Circus Circus. A 22 year old pre-med student believed to be tweaking out on Ecstasy squeezed through the bars of a window and fell out out of the 27th floor room. Earlier in the evening, she had been at the Electric Daisy Carnival.
Why is the AP article such a shitty headline? Because this one and dozens others like it have the phrase “Electric Daisy Carnival” and some version of death and dying in the headline occasionally interspersed with an Ecstasy reference which reinforces the insane theory that people are dying at raves.
Lets go over this one more time:
Electronic music festivals don’t provide drugs. The organizers do not encourage attendees to take drugs or condone it. What a person does outside the gates is not the responsibility of festival producers. Ingesting any sort of drug whether it be alcohol, weed, or ecstasy will always carry a risk. Be aware, be careful, but most important, surround yourself with friends who will watch your back.
And stop trying to create a hysteria over EMD festivals. Raves don’t equal deaths.
Erika Raney, spokeswoman for Electric Daisy Carnival producer Insomniac had this to say:
“We are deeply saddened by the two tragedies that occurred last week in Las Vegas outside Electric Daisy Carnival,” she told The Associated Press in a statement. “The two tragedies occurred beyond the festival’s walls as well as beyond Insomniac’s control and these incidents will not threaten the future of EDC in Las Vegas.”