On paper, staying on the Strip for EDC Las Vegas sounded like the move. Real beds. Real air conditioning. A little distance from the madness. But after sitting through roughly two hours of Uber time each way and paying about $160 per ride, the math stopped making sense fast.
By the time we got back and regrouped, the thought of doing it all again was taking the fun out of what should have been a magical start to the weekend. It felt like we were spending more energy surviving the logistics than actually enjoying the festival.
So we made the wild gametime decision and found ourselves a camping pass so we could move into Camp EDC. Almost immediately, it felt like we unlocked the version of the weekend we were supposed to be having all along.
What changed most was not some dramatic luxury upgrade. It was the time we got back and the convenience of it all. It was the feeling that EDC was no longer something we had to travel to and recover from, but something we were actually living inside. Camp EDC is built around that kind of convenience, with in-and-out privileges between camp and the festival during show hours. Once we were in camp, the exhausting back-and-forth that defined our first day basically vanished.
Once the sun came up, Camp EDC stopped feeling like a place to crash and started feeling like part of the experience itself. Why go to sleep when the afterparty is 50 feet away?
Yes, the tent got warm. That’s real. But if you’re staying in your tent all day, you’re missing out anyway. To beat the heat, all you need to do is get out into the Mesa. This central area of camp is designed to be its social and activity hub, with large shade structures, wellness programming, food and drinks, arts and crafts, beauty stations, and places to just sit, cool off, and vibe with other campers. That was the real daytime magic for us.
The vibe during the day might have been our favorite surprise of the entire move. There is something about hanging out with other campers in that in-between space, where we’re all tired, happy, dusty from the night before, but ready to do it all again. To us, that’s one of the best parts of raving, and Camp EDC is all about creating that atmosphere. There’s always something going on.
The pool also deserves a major shoutout. In the Nevada heat, that cool-down hits different and makes camp feel even more valuable. Sitting poolside, you’re plugged into a whole second layer of programming, from daytime splash sessions to sunrise afters and the Monday closing party that stretches all the way until 10AM. If you are the kind of person who wants the festival to keep going after the gates close, camp absolutely delivers on that promise.
Food was probably the most inconsistent part of our experience, but even that ended up becoming part of the fun. Some spots were forgettable and maybe even questionable. But there were genuinely great spots once we figured out where go.
The little conveniences mattered just as much as the headline perks. Having bathrooms and showers nearby was huge. The merch was stylish and cuter than we expected, and because camp had an official merch area, a vendor village, and a general store, it was easy to browse, wander, and make a few impulsive but very correct purchases. Even being able to pop back and layer up without turning it into a mission made a difference.
What sold us was the feeling that camp gave us more EDC, without sacrificing comfort. We got the practicality we needed after that brutal first day of commuting from the Strip, but we also got something even more valuable: more time with the community, more space to breathe, easier entry and exit, and a better connection to the weekend’s full rhythm.
If we could do it over again, we would skip the Strip experiment and commit to Camp EDC from the start. After living both versions of the weekend, staying on the Strip gave us a place to sleep, but Camp EDC gave us the festival home base.
Featured image courtesy: Insomniac Events.
