It’s true: Next year, for the first time ever, EDC Las Vegas goes full camping festival. It’ll come faster than you think, and now is the time to start planning your campsite so it’s all ready to go for the big weekend. First, check out our comprehensive guide to EDC Las Vegas camping and read up on all the options and amenities available, including a drive-your-own-RV option. Then, read on for 18 fun and creative ideas, tips and tricks to help take your EDC Las Vegas RV camping experience to the next level.
A quick note: None of the tips below advocate making any permanent changes or alterations to your RV unless you own it. If you’re renting, any permanent changes inside or outside the RV could lead to heavy fees, fines, or repairs from the RV retailer or owner. Okay, rave mom rant over—on to the fun stuff!
For our 21+ campers, raveify a traditional game of beer pong with black-light-reactive cups, glow-in-the-dark ping-pong balls, a brightly decorated folding table, and plenty of kandi. Wrap a piece of kandi around each cup before you play. Then, when someone sinks a ball into a cup, they win the cup’s kandi while the opposing team drinks. In the end, the team with the most kandi wins.
Make the constant battle for battery life a little more bearable with rooftop solar chargers. These come with easy attachments, so you can clip them onto your RV’s roof during the day, and then charge up your phones before you head to the festival grounds in the evening. Come morning, rinse and repeat, and you’re ready to go for the next day. Just make sure not to leave your actual phones charging on the rooftop—the Vegas sun is brutal!
For when you really want a hot meal, camping stoves are the perfect accessories. They can handle all your favorite Trader Joe’s frozen meals, as well as boil water for your tea, instant coffee, and oatmeal.
Non-refrigerated fruits are your best friends. High in nutrients, fruits like bananas, apples, and oranges—which all keep well when left out in the heat—will help you fuel up for a night of dancing. They may also keep you from spending the last day of EDC fighting off a cold.
Expecting guests at your EDC Las Vegas RV? Give them a colorful welcome with a rave-fabulous rug or doormat from the dollar store. Draw designs with neon and black-light-reactive paint, toss some glitter on for good measure, and create your own mini Rainbow Road at your front door. As an added bonus, the mat will help ensure less dust gets tracked inside your temporary home.
Temporary car paint can really add to your campsite’s allure—just make sure whatever you get is easy to wash off before you return your RV to the dealership. Decorate your RV with your crew’s rave names, draw multicolored owls, spread the love with your own rave mantras, and let your creativity run wild.
If car paint isn’t in the cards, you can still get a pop of pattern and color, thanks to vibrant tapestries. Drape them over the outside of your RV to make a statement; then use them all as temporary dividing “walls” inside to give everyone a sense of private space.
Stash a folding table (beer pong regulation size) in your RV to pull out when the pregame starts outside. Create a “front yard” with said table, a canopy tent, a floor of dollar-store rugs, and hanging decorations like disco balls, glowsticks, black-light-reactive stickers, and colorful paints.
Use your totems to mark your campsite and help lost crew members find their way home. Set up a homemade totem garden outside your RV using a large bucket or cardboard box. Place a piece of cardboard horizontally over the container, and create holes big enough for your totems’ staffs to fit through. Then stick your totems in the holes so they stand tall, loud and proud.
Bring a cooler and ice. Even if your RV has a fridge, you’ll want the extra space and the ability to easily enjoy chilled drinks outside. You can even add colored, reusable plastic ice cubes for some extra pizzazz.
Cut down on your dirty laundry by bringing at least one quick-dry towel for each member of your crew for the weekend. These babies are ultra-absorbent, and unlike traditional towels, they’ll be dry by the time you get home from the festival or in the hours you’re sleeping between your post-fest shower and a morning rinse.
Need we say more? These inflatable hammocks give you the lounging-around feel of the real thing when you don’t have a tree in sight. Plus, they make a colorful addition to the front yard of any EDC Las Vegas RV (see #8 above).
Both in and out of the festival grounds, small cooling towels add a level of comfort you won’t ever forget. The washcloth-size rags stay cool for hours after they’re wet, and they do a killer job of wicking heat and sweat off the back of your neck in the middle of a crowd.
Set up a plastic hanging shoe rack with all your festival essentials—water bottles, lip balm, gum, cooling towels, etc.—by the door inside the RV so they’re easy to grab. It’s a great way to ensure you have everything you need in your rave toolkit before heading out to the festival each day.
Fashion a makeshift trash can using a pop-up laundry hamper and a trash bag to help keep your campsite looking like a dream instead of a landfill.
Invest in a large flag to mount high on your RV. First, it’ll act like the ultimate campsite totem, so you’ll never have a problem finding home. And second, it’ll give you the opportunity to rep your city, country, school, mantra, and more.
Bring an extra set of keys to your RV. When you set up your campsite, find a safe place to hide them. Hook them to the underside of your RV with a carabiner, hide them under a garden gnome, bury them under a totem—whatever you can think of to keep them safely hidden in a memorable location. Then, even if you lose your first set at the festival, you won’t have to wait for the locksmith to save the day.
Removable window stickers are a fun, temporary way to jazz up your EDC Las Vegas RV, sans the paints, glitter or dyes. Search for temporary, window-friendly stickers or static-cling decals, like these—not permanent stickers.
EDC Las Vegas 2018 takes place Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For more information and to purchase passes, visit the official website.
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