Vegas Embraces Electric Daisy

The promoter of a rave festival that’s faced controversy in California is getting the red carpet treatment across state lines in Nevada.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman gave an enthusiastic endorsement June 16 to Insomniac Events’ Electric Daisy Carnival, which makes its Sin City debut June 24-26.

Electric Daisy was staged at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for several years but lost favor with the commission that oversees the venue following reports of insufficient security and rampant drug use at last year’s festival, where one teen died of a drug overdose.

But that’s all water under the bridge in Vegas, where Goodman told the Las Vegas Sun that police will maintain a presence to ensure the event is safe but that “if people want to be idiots, you can’t stop them.

“That’s part of human nature,” he said. “You can’t make people necessarily behave by telling them to behave. But we’ll do everything we can to make sure everybody has a good time.”

Goodman also declared the week of the festival “Electric Daisy Carnival Week” in Vegas and noted the event is expected to draw more than 250,000 people to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“As far as I’m concerned, anything that’s going to bring people and money and energy, that’s all I care about,” he said.