We took our first trip south of the border for 3 days of EDC Mexico 2024, and it was an immersive experience with good vibes and great music.
Electric Daisy Carnival, better known as EDC, is the true headliner when it comes to dance music in North America. While we’ve frequented their events in Las Vegas and Orlando over the years, we took our first trip to Mexico City in February 2024 for EDC Mexico.
Insomniac Events, the company behind EDC, usually focuses on events in California and the surrounding area. EDC Mexico is one of Insomniac’s only international events, and it has been going strong at Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez since 2014. 2024 was the 10th anniversary edition of EDC Mexico.
The stage setup at EDC Mexico is similar to the layout in Orlando and Las Vegas.
Just like both of Insomniac’s flagship US festivals, Kinetic Field takes up the largest area on the festival grounds. The second stage, Circuit Grounds, is much smaller in comparison to the main stage. However, it still had the capacity to hold a huge crowd, with Skrillex throwing down the best set of the weekend there to close out Sunday night.
The crowd at EDC Mexico flowed well. With many of the attendees just there to see the biggest names, most of the crowd was usually either at Kinetic or relaxing in one of many bar, food, or promo areas. This made stage hopping around the venue relatively easy. The size of EDCMX is somewhere between Orlando and Vegas, but the crowd management and fan experience here was well above average.
Outside of Kinetic and Circuit Grounds, the venue had many side stages to choose from.
Located near the entrance to the festival, Neon Garden and Wasteland provided house and techno and dubstep and hardstyle vibes. This is where we spent the majority of our weekend and where we experienced some of the best sets. Sometimes these stages got a bit packed when artists like deadmau5 and Sara Landry performed. However, it was still easy to find a comfortable spot if you’re used to navigating around a festival.
Other stages like the Mixx Stage provided a space for local DJs to spin popular Mexican genres like reggaeton and Latin Pop. Stopping by here was always interesting. Many of the artists mixed Spanish language songs with EDM hits like “Cannonball” or “Wake Me Up.” EDC Mexico also had plenty of art cars and smaller stages like Stereo Bloom in other areas of the fest.
After attending EDC Las Vegas 5 times and EDC Orlando 3 times, we felt that it was time for a new Electric Daisy Carnival experience.
EDCMX combined some of the better qualities of each of these festivals into a unique destination event in a foreign country. While in Vegas, it can take forever to get from stage to stage, that was not the case in Mexico. And while in Orlando it can be uncomfortably slammed to get from point A to point B, EDCMX made it easy to get from deep in Kinetic Field to the other side of the grounds.
Many people were there to party, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s one of the few massive EDM events in Mexico outside of tourist spots like Zamna Tulum. Walking through the fields near Kinetic Field, it was common to see aspiring influencers posing for photos and taking selfies literally every few steps. The vibe at Kinetic could sometimes feel a bit forced, and the speakers weren’t always working to their maximum potential. The real magic here happened around the smaller stages.
The dubstep and hardstyle sets at EDC Mexico were some of the best of the weekend.
EDC Mexico 2024 had a strong lineup of bass music, with hard dance being particularly well represented. It’s a genre that doesn’t get much attention in most of North America, and there are few things more euphoric than being in a crowd full of passionate hardstyle fans. Artists like Devin Wild, Lil Texas, and Showtek provided some of the festival’s most memorable moments. Wasteland doubles as both the dubstep and hardstyle stage in Mexico, a change compared to the Vegas edition. However, there is no doubt that the festival could support another stage dedicated to dubstep and drum n bass. Wasteland was often packed early in the afternoon for local riddim artists. Hol, Rusko, Black Tiger Sex Machine, and many others performed solid sets throughout the weekend.
Skrillex stole the show on Sunday night with an all-time great performance.
The entire weekend was leading up to one moment: Skrillex’s closing set at Circuit Grounds. While his sets in recent years focused more on his newer music, Skrillex at EDC Mexico 2024 was a perfect blend of his classics and new material. It seemed like the entire festival saw him based on the amount of artist merchandise being sold on the streets, and the experience was simply amazing.
It can be hard to navigate Mexico City unless you’re comfortable speaking Spanish, but the vibes at EDC Mexico prevailed.
It was rather uncommon to come across people that weren’t from Latin America or fluent in Spanish. Conversations with vendors, festival staff, and security were barely possible in broken English. That didn’t really matter in the moment though, as the mood of the festival was upbeat and friendly. EDC Mexico was an immersive experience, and it was easy to lose yourself in the music and environment here.
The Uber situation wasn’t bad either. Traffic in Mexico City was horrendous, but if you can walk a few blocks and figure out where the event traffic starts to ease up you’ll be fine. We had no safety concerns in the immediate area surrounding the festival. The outskirts of the stadium are covered with merchandise vendors and food stands, and once you get past dozens of drivers asking if you need a taxi, you can comfortably walk around and find a place to call an Uber (or DiDi).
We would highly recommend EDC Mexico if you’re looking for an international festival experience that’s close to home.
EDC Mexico brings together the best qualities of other Insomniac events into the one and only international Electric Daisy Carnival. If you’re curious about making a trip to CDMX for EDC Mexico, you won’t regret it. It’s an absolute must for any seasoned EDM fans craving a new and exciting festival weekend.
Author: @michael__premier
Premier EDM 