Picture a world where rainbow wigs, rhinestone-encrusted bikinis, glitter tutu’s, and neon beaded bracelets are the dress code. Surround yourself with thousands of people dancing from dusk to dawn around five stages blaring the beats of Avicii, Krewella, and David Guetta. Sounds like an “electric zoo” to me.
Electronic Dance Music, more commonly known as EDM, has been growing rapidly not only in America but other large countries as well. In the past few years we have seen a number of EDM Festivals such as Ultra, Electronic Daisy Carnival, and Electric Zoo attract thousands of party-goers. These music and dance festivals take place in large outdoor spaces capable of holding upwards of 100,000 fans and typically span over 2-3 days hosting multiple DJ’s.
Electric Zoo, in its fifth year of production, unexpectedly had to cancel its third and final day due to the death of two concertgoers. Both individuals, ages 23 and 20, appeared to have suffered overdoses from the drug MDMA, also known as Ecstasy or Molly. In addition, there were at least four individuals who fell critically ill from the same drug. This tragedy caused New York City officials to put a halt to the festival early Sunday morning due to “serious health risks.” While fans who purchased tickets will be reimbursed it is unclear what the bigger picture holds. Could this be the last we’ll ever see of Electric Zoo?