A lot of Electric, and even more Zoo: here’s what happened at Electric Zoo this year

Picture this: it’s Labor Day Weekend in New York City. The late summer sun glares down at you, and you feel beads of sweat running down your forehead. The final remnants of summer are still in the air – you already know you’re about to miss this feeling once the fall semester begins. To celebrate your last moments of a carefree life unbound by exams or project deadlines, where can you possibly imagine yourself, of all places? A disorganized and chaotic multi-day music festival, obviously!

This September, I was one of perhaps too many who attended the Electric Zoo Festival, more well known as its abbreviation, “EZoo.” This was my first multi-day music festival experience, so I had been looking forward to this moment for months. I bought tickets all the way back in June – thank God it was only Saturday and Sunday; little did I know that EZoo 2023 would go down in history as one of the worst, disorganized, and even dangerous music festivals of all time.

To preface, EZoo is the largest music festival in New York, raking in hundreds of thousands of festival-goers every year. Held annually on Randall’s Island, it is an entire trek in itself to even get to the festival grounds. For those unfamiliar with music festivals and raves, EZoo is one of many festivals centering around electronic dance music, or EDM for short. Primarily composed of electronic instruments and digital production techniques, EDM is popular for its catchy melodies and out-of-body listening experience. It comprises a multitude of subgenres, ranging from techno and house to hardstyle, dubstep, and trap. Originating from disco synths and the desire to get people dancing, the progression and evolution of EDM can be traced back to the early 1970’s. Today, EDM’s popularity has skyrocketed thanks to international DJs and music producers combining elements of techno with pop. EDC Orlando, another famous multi-day music festival, has already sold over 520,000 tickets for its anticipated return this year.

EDM is not just about the music either. What makes these people come back out every year is the experience. The rave community welcomes newcomers with open arms, coining the term PLUR – short for “Peace, Love, Unity and Respect.” Described as the general principles of rave culture, it serves as an ideology that all ravers strive for. The mutual respect that ravers have for each other and overwhelmingly positive energy everybody radiates is addicting, leaving people to return for more.

I was only drawn to the rave and EDM scene this summer; my brother, who I visit every summer in California, only plays EDM when he drives me around. One thing in particular that I love about the genre is that it truly makes you want to dance. It made me keep thinking, “Wow. Imagine if I heard this live.” So I ended up caving and spontaneously decided to buy EZoo tickets in June. I have been to a few EDM concerts in the past, but they were on a much smaller scale in comparison to EZoo; I was excited to attend this year, as many of my mutual friends spoke highly of it in the past. I was unfortunately lucky enough to witness the entire fiasco unfold first-hand.

This year’s festival boasted an ambitious lineup with world-class DJ artists, like Zedd, John Summit, GriZ, Zed’s Dead, and more. My friends and I split an Uber, and we had to get out in the middle of the road to get to the festival entrance on foot. Contrary to popular belief, it was sufficient to say that the journey was not the destination that weekend.

Day one kicked off with a lengthy Instagram post from the official Electric Zoo account announcing the cancellation of the first day only hours before the expected start time. The Chainsmokers, originally meant to perform on Friday, posted on their Instagram story after the announcement with the text reading, “bruh ezoo is cancelled i just flew all the way here.” The festival claimed the cancellation was due to “global supply chain disruptions,” but further investigation reveals that there was much more going on behind the scenes. Avant Gardner, a company that acquired Made Event to host EZoo this year, is now facing lawsuits and complaints from multiple parties – including Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York. “Unfortunate that organizers wanted to turn our city into a zoo,” said Adams. Avant Gardner also owns the infamous Brooklyn Mirage, another large-scale outdoor venue that is known for overselling tickets. Many people have posted their own speculations and theories as to what could have possibly led to the cancellation of such a major festival, sparking waves of concern for the remaining two days. But the community was optimistic; the rave community is known for their resilience and unrelenting positivity. And so, the weekend began.

Things couldn’t have gotten any worse than the entire first day being canceled, right? Wrong. With enthusiastic PR action from the official EZoo account hyping up day two on social media, EZoo exclaimed, “Together, we'll turn this setback into a memorable comeback!” The series of events that unfolded on Randall’s Island, however, begged to differ. The festival started two hours later than planned, resulting in earlier acts getting canceled. The main stage was never fully built, and those who didn’t receive their wristbands in the mail had to wait in hour-long lines – with most of them not even making it into the venue on time. Sunday was the final cherry on top, where festival-goers were denied entry after 6:30pm due to the festival grounds breaching capacity. People responded by storming the gates, drastically worsening the already overcrowded venue. NYPD later reported that the island had surpassed capacity by over 88,000 people.

Rave culture is known for its vibrant, music-centric scene characterized by inclusivity, self-expression, acceptance, and a sense of belonging, where people from diverse backgrounds come together to celebrate music and dance. It highlights one of the great strengths that music holds: uniting people in a shared experience, whether that be on festival grounds or not. This shared sentiment of camaraderie and their shared passion for EDM magnifies that. However, this culture often faces stigma primarily due to its association with drug use, especially substances like MDMA, and the perceived risks associated with them. The prevailing stereotype linking rave culture with drug consumption creates an overarching negative stigma, often overshadowing the values and essence of rave culture.

Despite the misconstrued notions of rave culture, however, there was one moment at EZoo in particular that struck a chord with me. I can vividly remember Zedd playing on the mainstage, with towering speakers and bright, flashy visuals; the night sky adorned with LED laser beams and most importantly – the radiant energy of the roaring crowd. Within a moment of gasping breaths after belting the lyrics to Zedd’s “Stay the Night,” I had a surprising but pleasant interaction with a complete stranger. We were both wearing the same color pashmina, or festival scarf. The man tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around in confusion. He motioned to our matching attire, and I could feel my face light up. He asked me if I knew what “PLUR” was, which I repeated: “Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect”. Motioning for me to come closer, he opens his palm and we commence in a tradition bestowed by all ravers – a series of intertwined hand motions to exchange beaded bracelets, or kandi. This was my first time ever receiving kandi from another raver; it made my heart feel so full, making the ordeal that I had to go through beforehand almost worth it.

From start to finish, this entire experience for me was a rollercoaster. I like to think that I thrive off of organized chaos, but if Avant Gardner’s idea of “organized” is overselling tickets to EDM fans and treating them like literal animals in a zoo, I don’t want any part of that. I thoroughly enjoyed day two on Saturday; I was fortunate to have received my wristbands in the mail, so I avoided the dreaded will call line for tickets. I don’t want this to reflect poorly on the EDM or rave community as a whole. My frustration is towards Avant Gardner and how they handled EZoo and my first experience of it. Would I go to another rave? Yes. Would I go to EZoo again, even if handled by a different company? Unfortunately, also yes.