What year it has been for me and festivals! I have had the chance to attend three festivals that are some people’s bucket lists: Defqon 1, TomorrowLand and EDC Las Vegas. I’ve already covered Defqon so it’s time talk about the two big names and what better way than to compare what some deem to be the two largest dance festivals in the world, both in name and size. Each host multiple stages, each seeing around 200,000 attendees across the weekend, each attracting the biggest names in dance music. Comparing the two, I’ll give you which is my ultimate favourite and why, whilst giving the good sides and the bad.
Before we get into it, I have two disclaimers. Firstly, I realise that there are larger festivals than these and to some, these two may not be at the top of their festival bucket list and that’s OK, each to their own. Secondly, everything I’m about to say is completely my own opinion based on my own tastes and experiences. Everyone’s going to enjoy different things and have a different experience at the same festival. It’s just to be taken as a guide and voice my opinions should you be undecided between festivals or wondered what they are like. Now that’s been said, keep scrolling and have a read through!
Travel
First things first, you need to get to the festival! For one festival, it’s a lot easier and cheaper for the majority of the world to get to compared to the other and there’s no prizes for guessing which one. Having to get out to Las Vegas can be quite expensive and time consuming should you be coming from outside of the USA. For me, I tried to make the most of the trip and headed there for a full week, which for return flights with British Airways cost me just shy of £555. OK, I know this is coming from the United Kingdom but due to the distance, the prices are going to be of similar magnitude if you’re coming from outside North or South America. Once at the airport, you need to either make your own way to the festival campsite or your hotel using taxis or Ubers.
For TomorrowLand, there are two ways to get to the festival. Firstly, you can get a Global Journey package where you travel is organised by TomorrowLand and includes your festival pass, taking the stress off you. The second way is to drive, get the train or fly to Belgium which is possible from anywhere within Europe. (Obviously, further afield, flying is the sensible option.) This simply isn’t possible for Las Vegas, even from within the USA in most cases! How cheap it is can be shown by it only costing me £170 to Brussels airport. From there, TomorrowLand have an array of shuttles that will take you to the campsite for a small fee if it’s not already included in your package.
Who wins? For me, TomorrowLand is both cheaper and has a lot better deals when it comes to getting from the airport or train station to the festival site.
EDC 0 TomorrowLand 1.
Accommodation
The 2018 edition of EDC Las Vegas brought a new aspect, Camp EDC. Alongside the hotels, hostels and Airbnbs on offer in Las Vegas, Camp EDC allowed a number of the festival goers to hire a “tent” or take an RV and stay near the speedway, allowing quick access and to enjoy the true festival atmosphere of staying on a campsite with a central hub for campsite activity, which can be read about here. Unfortunately, I can only read about it and not give a first hand experience of Camp EDC so it’s only fair that I don’t comment. The prices for the pleasure of one of these tents? Standard is $1,200 for one that fits 4 people, with premier tents costing $1,600, fitting 2 people. If you wanted to camp, you had to pay for the whole tent during the booking. Bringing an RV would cost you $329 for a maximum of 8 people.
With only 22,000 places available at Camp EDC, that means that most people stay in one of the best places for hotels in the world: Las Vegas. With a plethora of hotels ranging from 1-5 stars, you have plenty of options on where to stay and a wide variety of options for you relax and recover before another day at EDC. Pools, spas, massages, good food, very comfy beds! You name it, it’s there and ready for you to get yourself feeling 100% to get back at it. Another bonus of being able to stay on the Strip, there are pool parties in the day hosting the main names from EDC if you, the overnight rave wasn’t enough! Quite a hard combination to beat if you ask me!
Turning our to focus on TomorrowLand, the majority of those attending for the weekend stay on the campsite, Dreamville. The effort put into Dreamville to make it the experience that it is is honestly incredible! You have hair salons, tattoo parlours, a bakery, food from all across the world, it’s own stage for The Gathering (TomorrowLand’s preparty), indoor and outdoor showers, gyms, laundry, relax areas, yoga, meditation… you get the point! On top of this, you have the novelty of a band on a bike to wake you up (along with other novelties), the place being constantly cleaned and post festival events each night. The campsite experience is truly magical and nothing has ever compared to the detail, quality and scale of it! Full details of accommodation on offer at Dreamville can be found here.
I’m going to have to give a point to each of these festivals. A point to TomorrowLand for the vast amenities on offer at the campsite and how finely tuned it is; a point to EDC for the luxury you can have whilst staying on the Strip.
EDC 1 TomorrowLand 2
Accommodation to Festival
I felt this needed to be included, though you would think it’s rudimentary thing, due to the hassle and time that it takes to get to one of the festivals. This festival is… EDC I’m afraid. Yes, it is only a short walk from Camp EDC to the festival, but for the majority their accommodation is on the Strip in the shape of the hotels and Airbnbs. This relies on you having to find a way to the festival site, located around 20 miles away by road and gives you one of three options:
- Drive – The drive on the days of EDC is a daunting task. Though usually only a simple 30-45 minute drive on a normal day, when the festival is in town, it can take up to 2-3 hours to conduct that drive and actually get into the festival. Fortunately, parking is free if in general parking, however you option to go for Premier Parking if you wish. Details for the premier parking can be found here.
- Uber/Taxi – You can take the strain off driving there yourself but you’re still going to have the same travel time and it’s going to cost a significant amount as you rack up the costs in that traffic!
- Shuttles – Organised by EDC and coming in two tiers, you can either get a standard shuttle or Premier. These take a route through the local air base in Nevada so travel time is guaranteed to be 45-60 minutes. However, it takes at least an hour to queue, be searched and finally get on to a coach. Coming back was even worse, with some waiting up to 2-3 hours. The standard shuttle starts at $90, allowing you to go from any stop and at any time, should the queues allow, whereas the premier shuttle gave you an allocated slot from a set hotel and prices started at $199. Further information on what the premier shuttles include are here.
TomorrowLand on the other hand, when based on the majority, wins this one. With the festival being a maximum of a 45 minute walk if at the far side of Dreamville, it makes it considerably easier to get from one to another. Adding in the factor of the joke bikes you can ride if available and the sensational scenery and amenities on offer en route, the walk becomes an easy stroll which you can thoroughly enjoy with friends. For those coming for the day or staying locally, I unfortunately can’t pass judgement on how easy it is or isn’t to get into TomorrowLand as I’ve always camped.
Due to the amount of time you have to sacrifice to get to EDC for the majority of people, I have to hand this to TomorrowLand.
EDC 1 TomorrowLand 3
Stages
One of the main areas of focus for festivals of this magnitude is the stage design and how many they have on offer and unfortunately for one festival, they are coming up against one of, if not the best festivals for stage design and the amount on offer!
TomorrowLand has become famous for the stage design, in both scale and detail, with the main stage being always one of the highlights to the festival. The level of secrecy and spoilers surrounding it are only comparable to someone telling you the ending of your favourite TV series.
Ultimately, the stages at TomorrowLand are works of art, with each little detail considered. The main stage, for example, is something that I can keep looking at each time I visit and spot something new about it, as I’m mesmerised by the lights, fireworks and of course, the music. The other stages around the festival, though not to the same scale for the most part, are just as majestic and detailed as the main stage of the festival, each bringing their own character and suiting the genres that they host.
Moving across The Pond, EDC’s stages are to the same scale size wise, if not larger in some cases, as TomorrowLand but the detail isn’t to the same level. However, the stages at EDC are by no means bad stages. Instead, they are a mightily impressive mixture of light and screens, with a touch of fireworks. My word, does EDC love their fireworks.
In addition to the stages, there’s a EDC novelty in that they have a selection of portable stages and they are just as cool as the stationary ones, with a full array of speakers, lights and decorations. These drive around the festival grounds taking the party with them before stopping in various spots to have DJs play on them in a more intimate setting.
As to which festival takes the prize on this one, I have to give it to TomorrowLand. Yes, the novelty of EDC’s portable stages and an impressive set of lights and screens in their stage design was a spectacular sight to behold. However, the detail, scale and variety in the stages that TomorrowLand produces is very hard to beat for any festival.
EDC 1 TomorrowLand 4
Festival Grounds
Away from the stages, for both festivals, the festival grounds as a whole are brilliant in their own separate way, giving a very different feel to each experience.
TomorrowLand is your traditional day into night festival but is a magical place in both the light and the dark. Being hosted at a large recreational area in Belgium with an array of small woodlands, lakes and a natural amphitheatre, it plays host as a stunning setting. They utilise these natural features in just the right way by using the amphitheatre for the main stage, placing stages in/on the lakes such as the dragon stage and put stages hidden away in the wooded areas.
Away from the setting of the festival, there’s the time and effort that goes into decorations both on the campsite and at the festival. The buildings that host the bars, food stands and shops are all well designed and detailed. The areas for you to chill out, eat, relax and get out of the elements, rain or shine, are well furnished and equally detailed. It’s just amazing how much care they put into the detail of the place to make it another world to which you can immerse yourself in.
With it being set dusk ’til dawn, EDC definitely utilises the dark tremendously to provide an outstanding display of lights that will take your breath away. It’s bright, it’s colourful and it’s brilliant. Add into this plenty of rides to give you a bird’s eye view of the festival, you can really enjoy the show. Another thing that EDC utilises well is the setting of the Las Vegas Speedway when it comes to the fireworks display they have every evening, having the displays encompass you whilst you’re in the middle of it all. Everywhere you look, there are plenty of things to look at and cool decorations designed all with lights.
When it comes to the rest of the area, EDC isn’t just about the music and has a varied collection of pieces of art scattered around the sight. From sculptures to hundreds of light tubes, there’s plenty to look at away from the music and to give yourself a break, whilst having the areas to relax in to give your mind, body and soul a chance to recover from everything, taking in the ambience that’s created by the music and surroundings.
This one is definitely an draw for the two as there’s nothing to separate the them as they are both brilliant in their own way. So that puts our running total at:
EDC 2 TomorrowLand 5
EDC 2 TomorrowLand 5
Atmosphere
So what’s it like in the festival? To me, every festival has its own personality making it original compared to any other. This comes down to build of it, the kind of people that attend and the focus of the festival. So for me, this is what really set TomorrowLand and EDC Las Vegas apart for me and ultimately, why one of them I wouldn’t make the effort to return to.
In my experience of EDC didn’t feel that united. To me, it seemed once at the festival, people were there in their “squads” and they were content enough with that, with no real unity between groups. The only people that I met and really spoke to properly were European! I also felt that the focus of the festival was slightly different to what I’m used to, this being backed up by my American friends with whom I attended with. I can’t quite put my finger on it precisely but it didn’t feel like it was the music and coming uniting.
Moving back to Europe, we’ll take a look at the atmosphere of TomorrowLand and what an atmosphere it is! I think this mainly starts with the campsite living, where you will very easily become friends with your neighbours around you and that filters through into the festival. It’s a very international setting, with no prejudices based on nation (though I’ve had plenty of tea jokes!) and everyone is there to have a good time, enjoy the choices of music and meet new friends, some of which I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in their home nations since and I’m still in touch with.
For me, the atmosphere at TomorrowLand was more united and friendly thus giving the point there.
EDC 2 TomorrowLand 6
Line-Up
Attracting the biggest names from across the globe, both festivals have a headliner stacked line-up to suit most, if not all tastes of the electronic dance music realm. So much so that you have to carefully plan your weekends to ensure that you see as many people as you can and battle the inevitable clashes that occur. However for me, one festival disappointed me with their line up and how they spread the genres across the three days, whilst also having less variety.
With 16 stages on offer a day, TomorrowLand has a lot of room to accommodate a lot of genres across the spectrum, with their reputation and financial clout attracting the biggest names in each category. This allows them to have a wider variety compared to the 8 stages that EDC had but it also seemed more balanced across the weekend, without having multiple stages offering the same genres. Follow the link and scroll down for the line-up.
On the other hand, (and I’m sure people will argue “No, that’s this genre, that’s that genre! You’re wrong!”) I felt that EDC clumped certain days into very similar genres. The example I would give is that on the Friday, to me, it seemed that 3 or 4 stages offered DnB or Dubstep or stuff of a similar style. That’s half of the festival! So I was struggling to find the variety once the novelty wore off. Here’s the line-up to take a look! However, one cool aspect with EDC are the portable stages that have special guests playing on them popping up at random times, only announced on the app just before. Having big names playing these intimate sets was very cool!
It’s a tight one but I have to give it to TomorrowLand due to the lack of variety and not spreading genres and artists over the day more evenly by EDC.
EDC 2 TomorrowLand 7
Currency System
So how do you pay for things? For some festivals, it’s surprisingly more difficult than at others (I refer you to my review of Defqon 1 festival and my thoughts on tokens!). After experiencing the European festivals, it was refreshing to see that a festival stuck to one method and it be one where you don’t have to transfer anything: cash or card. This festival is the American one, EDC, and it makes life in general a lot easier! All you have to do is carry around cash or card and be able to pay for anything, anytime, any place and not have to worry about how many tokens you do or don’t have!
In comparison, TomorrowLand loses on this one as it uses a currency system called Pearls. With the wristbands being microchipped, you pay for your Pearls online before you then go and purchase things at the festival with your wristband thus no need to bring cash in with you. Now yes, this is a lot better done than tokens as you can refund the Pearls, you are able to top up your Pearls from anywhere on your phone and use them at any shop. However this relies on you to have signal and battery to actually be able to top up the Pearls or else you’re having to head to a kiosk to top them up.
EDC 3 TomorrowLand 7
The Conclusion?
“Who wins it then?” I hear you say. That would be TomorrowLand easily. As much as I enjoyed EDC, going out to Vegas for the week, enjoying the beginning of EDC week and the whole festival, for me it’s not something I would do again. It was the accumulation of downsides and the very different atmosphere that did it for me. However, if you’re interested in going, don’t let this discourage you as you could have a different experience to me and it’s definitely something you should experience at least once in your life!
TomorrowLand is a special place. The atmosphere, the detail, the line-ups, the effort put into it across the board, it all astounds me. Attracting people from all across the world, it is a celebration of music and coming together of people. I have done silly things to ensure that I get to this festival in the past and it was all completely worth it! I cannot put into words how good this festival is as a whole and would demand that you go!
Final score? EDC 3 TomorrowLand 7
Be sure to follow the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter social media accounts and be the first to be see when I post my new blog posts, or just see what I’m up to recently!
