EDC Mexico celebrated a very special 10-year anniversary this past weekend, February 23-25, 2024 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
Hosted by Insomiac and Ocesa and inviting electronic giants like Skrillex, Carl Cox, Zedd, Alesso, HOL!, ISOxo, and Knock2 we were hoping this festival would hit it out of the park.
Although EDC Mexico pulled us into the fairytale-like world of their magic carnival, the venue and production left us desiring more.
Music: A
Despite techno and house popularity in Mexico, EDC stayed true to its roots and included various electronic music in the lineup.
From Black Tiger Sex Machine and SVDDEN DEATH to Sara Landry and Richie Hawtin there was something to satisfy every electronic tastebud.
Some weekend highlights included Big Gigantic‘s DJ Sunset set with live saxophone playing. At the same time, the setting sun layered a golden glow over the crowd, a surprise Deorro set, and Skrillex’s energetic and engaging finale to close the weekend on Sunday night.
Steve Aoki spoke to the Mexican population at the festival by bringing out special guests Ángela Aguilar, daughter of four-time Grammy award-winning singer Pepe Aguilar, and Mexican rapper Nataneal Cano.
It was a heartfelt moment, and the energy in the crowd was palpable when the guests were brought on stage. Aoki did a fantastic job of bringing the local culture into his set and marrying the boundaries between Mexican and American electronic music.
Venue: A-
Similar to EDC Las Vegas, EDC Mexico is held at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a racetrack comparable in size to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With six main stages and multiple art carts, we always had a place to go party.
The venue sported extraordinary interactive sponsorships throughout the weekend. Insomniac ensured that the activations didn’t feel corporate-y and integrated them notably well into the festival with bright neon displays that fit nicely with EDC’s carnival-like theme.
From free Takis and Monster energy drinks to Pepsi’s silent disco, we were antsy to engage with the sponsors.
Additionally, grandiose festival rides accompanied the carnival-like theme, including two Ferris wheels, a swing ride, a drop tower, a carousel, and plenty more. Whether you wanted relaxing entertainment or an exhilarating thrill, there was plenty to ride while still catching tunes.
But a negative that we noticed about Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the location. Many ravers stayed during the festival in the Reforma District due to the area’s food, culture, and art.
The downside is that the Reforma District is about an hour from the venue. So, not only was getting out of the venue a hassle to tackle, like every other festival, but you also had to drive an hour to your spot for the night, resulting in 3:30 AM arrivals to the hotels.
This wasn’t the worst we’ve seen compared to other events. We’ve heard horror stories about waiting up to four hours to get out of festival parking, so we will take a W when we can.
Navigating the venue grounds posed some complex challenges as well. The landscape seemed to be a mixture of gravel, concrete, and grass covered by a very thin tarp. A couple of times per day, we tripped over loose tarps and divots in the surface with loose gravel, making the surface extremely uneven.
Luckily, we didn’t have too much trouble, but we can’t imagine the experience for those with differing abilities and possibly using assistive devices to get around. We had similarly commented on this in EDC Mexico’s 2023 Report Card, and it unfortunately wasn’t fixed.
Vibes: B
Every single artist on the lineup was excited to perform in Mexico City, and you could hear and feel it. It was clear that an international festival was something that they were honored to play at, and that added to our excitement to be there.
We were pleasantly surprised with the number of people dressed in various costumes and festival clothes despite the general understanding that ravers outside the United States don’t dress up as much as we do.
We loved passing by vendors in the crowd. Staff walked around the grounds selling popcorn, tacos, hotdogs, and personal-size pizzas. It was nice not to venture far from our spot to grab a snack.
One difference between EDC Mexico and American festivals is that groups tend to keep to themselves. There was barely any kandi trading, complimenting outfits, or dancing together, making it difficult to connect as a crowd. Meeting new friends is one of our favorite parts of a festival, so this was a little of a letdown.
One thing that brought down our vibe was the cashless wristbands required to pay for food and various other amenities throughout the festival. It was a hassle to load money onto the wristband, and it was difficult to gauge how much money would be required each day, leading to many unused funds.
However, Headliners can request a refund online from February 28 to March 20, 2024.
We did appreciate, however, the affordability of the festival. For Americans, everything was reasonably priced.
VIP upgrades were a fraction of the price compared to domestic festivals; food was anywhere from $3 USD to $20 USD, and merch was $30 USD to $80 USD, depending on the article of clothing.
Production: B-
EDC can be known for over-the-top stage designs and a whimsical atmosphere. However, we were left less than impressed with the stage designs at Mexico’s festival edition.
Kinetic Field, the main stage, was the only stage that knocked our socks off. The essence of the majestic princess awakening as the music blasts through the crowd painted a magic experience for the crowd to participate in.
The other stages, however, left more to be desired. The five stages had generic screen displays, and the visuals didn’t quite grab our attention. Some major headliners only displayed their logo on the screen, which is inconsistent with what we expect EDC to showcase.
Pyrotechnics and lasers were in abundance at the festival. We were in awe throughout the weekend, looking up and seeing various colors shooting across the sky. Fireworks during the festival finale had us in our feels. It was sad to be ending the festival, but we were happy that we were doing it with some of our best friends and coworkers.
Although fireworks were on the schedule for every night of the festival, we did not see any on Friday or Saturday night, which was disappointing. The festival said it had to be due to air quality conditions.
The bass at the festival shook our bones, and we felt like the music was loud and clear so that we could dance and sing all weekend long.
The sound bleed between them was excessive, though. It was distracting to attend one set and hear a different set every time the music was a little low.
Bad sound bleed can ruin even the best set, and we didn’t expect that from a festival that has happened since 2014.
Overall: B+
EDC Mexico, overall, was a fantastic festival. Compared to other international festivals we’ve been to, Mexico brought a surprising amount of energy.
The extensive amount of people who dressed in rave fashion exceeded our expectations and added an element of light-heartedness to the event.
Diversity in the lineup brought not only an impressive amount of talent to one place but offered a wide variety of genres to create a pleasantly well-rounded weekend.
Tacos, empenadas, and esquites around every corner had us drooling uncontrollably. Affordability of the festival all around was also a major plus for us.
But compared to EDC Las Vegas, we expected the production to blow us away and we felt it wasn’t up to par. When painting a picture of EDC, we think of beautiful, over-the-top fireworks and artistic visuals that Mexico was unfortunately lacking.
Nonetheless, we had a good experience. Until next time, EDC Mexico!
All images credit EDC Mexico
