10 Must-See EDM Festivals in the USA

Do you have a love for EDM (electronic dance music)? Have you been to your first rave yet or have you been waiting for the right one? What about trying to find your next rave?

Well, look no further because here is a wonderful list of the most well known and beloved EDM festivals in the United States.

Don’t get me wrong there are some amazing festivals all over the world, but this list is just for those in the United States. Reason being that most of you live here and sometimes it is hard to be able to afford festival tickets plus international plane tickets and hotels.

I know that many of you may even quit your job or break up with a girlfriend or boyfriend just to go to EDM festivals. And that is true dedication!

Well I know there are so many different festivals you can choose from, but let’s talk about the most well-known ones.

So, what are the 10 must-see EDM festivals in the USA?

• EDC – Las Vegas, Nevada
• Ultra – Miami, Florida
• Electric Forest – Rothbury, Michigan
• Lost Lands – Thornville, Ohio
• Escape Psycho Circus – San Bernardino, California
• Hard Summer – Fontana, California
• Beyond Wonderland – San Bernardino, California
• Spring Awakening – Chicago, Illinois
• Electric Zoo – New York City, New York
• Nocturnal Wonderland – San Bernardino, California

Now let’s go through each one of these.

Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) – Las Vegas

This is one of the biggest EDM festivals with over 400,000 people in attendance each year. It is hosted by Insomniac and used to be in July, but has been pushed up to May 17th to the 19th for 2019.

It is a 3-day event as well and you can only buy 3-day tickets, no 1-day tickets or 2-day tickets available. Also, you can not sell a day to someone else because they are fabric wristbands with a scan code in them that are registered to your name. The wristbands are not easy to get off either because they now have 2 sets of teeth inside the plastic lock. So, be warned if you are trying to be sneaky and swap wristbands.

There is an age restriction though and that is that everyone has to be 18 or older to attend. Now if you plan on getting VIP tickets make sure that you are 21 years old or older because that is a requirement due to alcohol.

Not going to lie, but this is one of my absolute favorite festivals. And in 2018 they even added a campground for the first time. This is Camp EDC and it honestly is wonderful, I highly recommend trying it out instead of staying at a hotel.

If you want to see more about EDC Las Vegas then check these out:

• What to Bring into EDC
• What to Bring for EDC Weekend
• Pregnant at the Electric Daisy Carnival
• Best of Camp EDC
• Staying Safe at EDC
• And even more to check out in our EDC Vegas tab!

Ultra – Miami, Florida

Yet, another big festival for EDM lovers, but this time on the east coast. There are around 160,000 attendees each year and is hosted by Ultra Enterprise Inc. Ultra takes place in March from the 29th-31st for 2019.

2019 will be the first year that they will use the fabric lock wristbands with scan codes for their tickets. These will be basically like EDC’s wristbands. The reason they are changing over is because of people that try to take them off and sell them to others.

Again, this festival only sells 3-day tickets, no 1-day or 2-day tickets available. That means people will try to rip the company off and sell a day or so to someone else.

Honestly, I get it that people want to save money and tickets are expensive, but just pay for the ticket and don’t try to basically steal from them. Festivals are amazing and people that do this actually give raves or festivals a bad name. Plus, the new wristbands will make it much harder to do so.

You do have to be 18 or older to attend Ultra and if you want VIP then you need to be 21 or older.

Electric Forest – Rothbury, Michigan

This is actually an all-ages festival. There are around 30,000 attendees to the Forest and it is hosted by Insomniac and Madison House Presents. They actually have 2 different weekends in June for the festival. June 21st to the 24th and June 28th to July 1st.

Camping of many different forms are available, including cabins there. If you are 21 or older there are some areas just for you that children can not get into and these, of course, have alcohol.

Like EDC, there are many different stages to go to but, a big difference is that it is in the forest and not the desert. Another difference is that there are more up-and-coming artists at Electric Forest, whereas EDC has a lot of well-known artists. Though Electric Forest does have some big names tied to it.

Cool thing though is that there are 2 different weekends for the festival and that means some artists play the 1st weekend, the 2nd weekend, or both. More days to enjoy the festival and people.

Lost Lands – Thornville, Ohio

Now lost lands is not exactly one of the big-name festivals, yet. The reason it is on this list though is that it is growing fast and this is because it is presented by Excision. It will actually its 2nd year running in 2018.

So, why would I have this on this list besides that it is growing fast? Because it is all about those dinosaurs! They have amazing effects and large dinosaurs and what is cooler than that?

Only thing I can think of that may be cooler than the dinosaurs is the lineup. There will be Excision of course and Illenium, Jauz, Rezz, NGHTMRE, Slander, and G Jones just to name a few.

Well, there are 2 main stages and camping at Lost Lands along with payment plans to pay for the tickets. Not a bad festival to check out.

Escape Psycho Circus – San Bernardino, California

This is another festival that is hosted by Insomniac and this time for Halloween. Escape, for short, is from October 26th-27th and is all about Halloween.

If you do go you will notice that many people are dressed up in Halloween costumes. Yes, many raves have costumes, but Escape is all about the scary and freaky Halloween theme that the costumes can be scarier.

It is a 2-day event and there are no 1-day tickets available. You do have to be 18 or older to attend just like most EDM festivals.

They do have the stages, the psycho circus, and even an asylum. Be prepared for that spookiness because that is basically what Escape is all about.

Hard Summer – Fontana, California

A 2-day festival from August 4th to 5th. Good news is that you can actually buy a 1-day ticket for either of the days and don’t have to buy both days if you can’t make both. This is one of the only festivals on the list that have a ticket for just 1-day.

You do have to be at least 18 to go to this festival as well. There are VIP options that are for those 21 and over though if you wanted them.

The lineup is stellar for 2018. Zeds Dead B2B Jauz, Diplo B2B Dillon Francis, Marshmello, Virtual Self, San Holo, K?d, and many more are on the lineup.

Truly worth checking out if I do say so myself.

Beyond Wonderland – San Bernardino, California

Once again an Insomniac event, but this time it is more of an Alice in Wonderland themed festival. March 16th and 17th are when you should be falling down the rabbit hole and head into Beyond Wonderland.

Of course, you will need to 18 or older to attend, just like most Insomniac events. Again, there are options for VIP where you need to be at least 21 years old.

Get lost in this magical place and have a blast at stages designed after Alice in Wonderland. There is the Queen’s Domain, Mad Hatter’s Castle, Caterpillars Garden, Cheshire Woods, and of course the art cars for you to enjoy yourself at.

Just make sure that you realize that there are only 2-day tickets for the event and no selling off one of the days to someone else. All Insomniac events have the fabric wristbands that are hard to take off.

Spring Awakening – Chicago, Illinois

From June 8th to the 10th in Chicago is the wonderful Spring Awakening. It is a 3-day event, but good news is that you can pay for just 1-day tickets as well. There are no 2-day tickets, but that is okay.

They have a fantastic lineup! Including Steve Aoki, Tiesto, Blau, deadmau5, Porter Robinson, and even Alison Wonderland, along with so many other great artists.

Now that is a lineup that I would travel for in a heartbeat!

You must be 18 or older just like the others, but it is worth the wait if you are younger than 18. VIP is only for those 21 and over.

Electric Zoo – New York City, New York

Finally, a New York City event for those of you near New York. This one is for Labor Day weekend, so from August 31st to September 2nd.

This is another one of the festivals with an amazing lineup. Electric Zoo 2018 has Virtual Self, Marshmello, Martin Garrix, Kaskade, Tiesto, Illenium, Alan Walker, Jauz, Rezz, San Holo, and many more outstanding artists.

2018 is actually the 10th birthday for Electric Zoo and they are going all out. From diversifying their DJs to blowing everything out of proportion, 2018 is supposed to be the best year for Electric Zoo in New York City.

They do have offer 1-day, 2-day, and 3-day tickets. That’s right, you have all of the options and don’t need to pay for more than you can actually go to. You may not be able to afford a 3-day ticket at the time, but at least you can attend 1 or 2 days instead.

Nocturnal Wonderland – San Bernardino, California

Alright, last on this list, but of course not least. Yet another Insomniac event, but still wonderful nonetheless. It is also in San Bernardino, CA like many of the other, but it is a great place for these festivals. It will be from September 14th to 15th.

Since it is an Insomniac event they only have the 2-day tickets, no 1-day tickets. But there is camping available as well.

You do have to be 18 and older to attend. 21 and older for VIP.

Their lineup has artists from AC Slater to Habstrakt to Illenium and more. NGHTMRE and Slander will be there presenting Gud Vibrations as well.

Don’t miss out on having a blast with more friends by camping. You can even make new friends or what we like to call “neighbors” that can expand your rave family.

Here is a quick timeline for all of these festivals.

March

• 16th – 17th – Beyond Wonderland
• 29th – 31st – Ultra

May

• 17th – 19th – EDC Las Vegas

June

• 8th – 10th – Spring Awakening
• 21st – 24th – Electric Forest
• 28th – July 1st – Electric Forest

August

• 4th – 5th – Hard Summer
• 31st – September 2nd – Electric Zoo

September

• 14th – 15th – Nocturnal Wonderland
• 14th – 16th – Lost Lands

October

• 27th – 28th – Escape Psycho Circus

That’s all for now.

There are 10 of the most well known U.S. EDM festivals. Check them out because they are all wonderful and each and every one of them is different. You will end up with a new and different experience at each festival. They truly are worth the cost of tickets.

Have a blast with friends or go by yourself. Either way, if you love EDM you will fall in love with the festivals and end up going back each year.

Want to learn more? Check out more of our articles:

• Top 7 Websites for Rave Wear
• Staying Safe at EDC
• Best of Camp EDC
• And many more under our All About Raves tab!

Your Turn.

Which festivals have you attended? What festival do you plan on attending next? Is there any EDM festival that interests you that is out of the States?