Do Headliners Dream of Electric Daisies?

When you close your eyes and think about EDC Las Vegas, what fantastical images race through your mind? When you dream about EDC, what do you see? We asked our Headliners to share the dreams currently occupying their headspace, and then we had an artist bring their words to life. Here are a few of our favorites.

Dream by Brooke Nelson

I had a dream where I was a caterpillar going through security. As I walked through the entrance, I could feel a bunch of butterflies flapping their wings inside my stomach. I remember feeling really light and excited with anticipation. I started to float through the air, toward the music, but I didn’t realize I was actually flying until I got inside the Speedway and saw the giant EDC owl hovering above the crowd like the Empire State Building. His eyes were bright gold, and he was shooting rainbow-colored lasers across the sky each time that he blinked. That’s when I realized I was hovering way above the crowd. As I looked down, I saw everyone pointing and waving at me to come join them. At that moment, I realized I wasn’t where I should be soon, and that I was missing out on all the fun. As I looked down, the music stopped, and the DJs got on the mic and asked me to hurry up and join everyone.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, the bass dropped, fireworks shot to the sky, and the entire Speedway erupted in cheers. I no longer felt nervous; the butterflies in my stomach were gone. It started to feel like a cocoon was being built up around me. Each person I met and danced with throughout the weekend seemed to reinforce my cocoon with an overwhelming sense of Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. The music, the carnival rides, the art, everyone giving each other high-fives—I remember walking through the grounds feeling like I was where I finally needed to be. I felt safe and comfortable the entire weekend. As I was walking out of the Speedway from my first experience at EDC, my wings started to break through the cocoon, and I remember taking off toward the sun in sky… and that’s when I woke up.

Dream by Quincie Stewart

I live in a small town in Nova Scotia, where there is very little appreciation for the music and culture. To finally be surrounded by all of the things that I’m passionate about, I cannot begin to express how over-the-moon I am to be attending my first EDC this year—which probably has a lot to do with this dream I recently had after purchasing tickets. Lying in bed, thinking of all the fireworks, bass, colorful people and good vibes that I’m about to experience…

The next thing I remember is hearing music off in the distance—too far to make out what track was playing, but I could tell it was getting closer; the music was noticeably louder, and I started to hear people talking and laughing. And then my doorbell rang, but it wasn’t my front door. It was the door to my bedroom, and when I opened it, Pasquale was there with my tickets, asking me if I was ready to go. When I got outside, I saw miles and miles of cars lined up behind the boomboxARTCAR, which is now parked on my front lawn. The caravan is being led by a swarm of giant, neon bumblebees. My friends were there, everyone was dancing… Holly was standing on top of the boombox, holding a totem of Rainbow, waving me over.

Worried that my neighbors would wake up, I quickly joined the party, and off we went. We drove for what seemed like days, the bumblebees following a path of liquid gold that they slurped up for nourishment along the way. As I walked down the stairs into EDC, the entire venue was filled with giant willows and sunflowers and mushrooms that were at least twice my size. I remember feeling happy… and then my alarm went off.

Dream by Angel Blanco

The dream I had about EDC featured unicorns, waterfalls made of diamonds, sea lions, and a majestic river of turquoise and pink satin ribbons. It’s a little crazy, very unrealistic, and completely unpredictable—and probably why I love it so much. My dream starts off as I pull up to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The entire parking lot is a sea of beautifully vivid, colorful tents. It reminds me of some sort of future primitive rave bazaar meets Burning Man meets Blade Runner meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

There’s an octopus standing in front of a sign that reads: Welcome to EDCtopia. His eight tentacles are all picking up cars and pointing them in the right direction as they drive under the gate to their designated spot. There are unicorns waiting by the tents to act as chauffeurs. Each one is color-coded, depending on which part of EDCtopia you want to go to first. There are thousands of unicorns flying from the parking lot into the Speedway so fast that all you can see are colorful streaks in the sky—it looks like a giant rainbow going from the parking lot into the Speedway.

As I got inside EDCtopia, I notice Headliners floating down a majestic [lazy] river of turquoise and pink satin ribbons, as they make their way from one stage to another. The river dumps out into a pool being fed by a huge waterfall on the mainstage. As I get closer, I notice that the water was actually tiny purple and blue diamonds, giving it an almost ombré illusion. The pool in front of the stage is filled with party boats tethered together. There are sea lions around the parameter of the pool playing piano. I remember feeling like I never wanted to leave.

Dream by Monica van Rosendale

There’s no other place on earth that more resembles where my imagination goes when I fall asleep at night. I grew up in the ‘90s, so there’s a lot of cartoon characters from that era. Sonic the Hedgehog having tea with circus clowns, the Power Rangers participating in their own Olympics… that sort of thing. One thing really odd about my latest daydream is that I was riding a giant pony… except in this dream, my steed is crossed with a giant owl—laser eyes and all. And my pony totally reminded me of My Little Pony: diamond tiara and platinum hoofs, the whole deal. But with a duck’s beak. Yeah, I told you it wasn’t normal! So it’s sort of a new creature, and it’s my ticket in to the Speedway, through the giant rock-candy gates and my ride down the rainbow slide into the festival.

So, I’m riding my pony-owl around the festival and come upon a bunch of stalls where all of the DJs hang out before their sets. They are there so we can make song requests… or just talk about anything. As I explore, I come across Kaskade’s paddock, where he and Martin Garrix are speaking inside a tent, which looked about the size of a car from the outside—but inside, it made the Empire State Building look small.

At this point, they both looked at me and smiled. “It’s your turn; get up there and knock them dead… and don’t forget to tell the chef what sort of pizza you want.” To my side stood a human-sized lollipop girl with a spatula. She kept asking me what size pizza I wanted while motioning to Morgan Freeman and Crizzly, who were making pizzas in the back of the tent. Next thing I knew, I was riding my pony-owl up to the mainstage and proceeded to play my set (and this is real odd), which never seemed to change as I transitioned from song to song. It always sounded like a mashup of Martin Garrix’s “Animals” with the theme from the 1970s hit TV series The Love Boat.

Illustrations by Kenneth Hung