So you've finally decided to visit the West Coast, particularly Los Angeles, California, for one of the world's most premier electronic dance music events. This festival, which has been going strong for 13 years, has even more in store this year than in years that have passed. For one, 2009 will be bringing us our first two-day Electric Daisy Carnival on June 26th and 27th. This weekend in June is going to be filled with amazing vibes and good music. Let's just make sure you'll be ready for it.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Lit Up For EDC

For the third year in a row, the Electric Daisy Carnival will be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum & Exposition Park. This venue provides for an open air environment that carnivals are known for, but what's more fun is no matter which stage you are at, you will be dancing with thousands of people under the star lit sky.

GSC At EDC 2006

Obviously if you are reading this article, you should know by now that GSC has their annual Ultra Circle at Electric Daisy Carnival at or around midnight. This single moment in time is where we showcase our community's unity and our devotion to the art. We come together to provide great times and enjoy great music. However, if you've never been to an EDC or similar massive/festival, you wouldn't know where to meet us! Assuming the main stage set up is going to be similar to 2007 and 2008, you would just have to find the two carnival rides in the main stage just in front of the VIP area & stairs. (See below) GSC usually meets up just in front of these two rides which are located in the back of the main room. This is also where the Ultra Circle is usually held.

GSC Meetup Spot @ Coliseum Main Stage

This could also be applied to any of the other massives and festivals in or around California. It's usually a given that GSC Homebase will be at the back of the main room. Not only does this give a location for members to find other members, but it also provides a little bit more room for the stringers to play with.

However, what happens if you've never seen a GSCer in person before? With a capacity this year of 100,000+, it will be difficult to recognize any GSCer. This is one of the reasons we like to hold pre-meetups. At pre-meetups we basically teach and learn new things while getting to know each other. At festivals like EDC, it is actually quite hard to socialize through normal means like talking and listening. Therefore it becomes a bit harder to get to know the GSCers. It is highly suggested that you attend a pre-meetup just for the aspect of getting to know the person face to face rather than computer to computer.

Just like the Ultra circle, we always have a pre-meetup every year. This year’s EDC Pre-meetup will be taking place on June 25th, 2009 at Elysian Park. Just stay tuned to the related topics on the message boards to keep updated on all news related to GSC @ EDC. Links are located at the bottom of this article.

List Of Things To Do:

1) Arrive early. As most of us learned from EDC 2008, the crowd will just be atrocious. Arrive early and chill in the parking lot. Wait in line while practicing those freehanding combos! Arriving early will also allow you to have more time to experience everything EDC has to offer.

2) Ride the rides and play the games. It is a carnival after all! My friend won a bright pink acoustic guitar and extra strings playing one of the dart games. Maybe you will too! Arriving early as stated in earlier will ensure you go through this step quickly and avoid all the lines.

3) Explore the other stages! There is more to EDC than just the main stage. A lot of people during EDC 2008 missed one of the best sets (Shinichi Osawa) of the night, at least in my opinion, when they opted to stay at the main stage.

4) Film your first encounter/entrance into the coliseum main stage. There is no doubt in my mind that this single particular spine-tingling moment is one you'll want to remember your entire lifetime. If need be, do it twice. After all, if you follow the tips before hand, you'll first walk into an empty coliseum. As epic as that can be, coming back to a full coliseum is even more so.

5) DO NOT MISS THE ULTRA CIRCLE! EDC 2009 is going to be two days; however, there will only be one official GSC Ultra circle which will happen on Saturday at midnight in the main stage. Under no circumstances should you miss this single most unifying moment of our community. Don't forget your glowsticks and cameras!

Things Of Note:

1) VIP Parking does not mean "Free Parking for VIP Ticket Holders!" VIP parking is simply parking that is right near/on the venue for a steep fee. This fee is usually higher than normal (TAO was $40.00), and if you think about it; you'll end up paying a higher fee at close-by third party parking lots. It is up to you if you would like to pay the fee for a spot up close (especially if you are arriving early and can find cheaper parking if you wanted to), or go driving around finding a cheaper lot. If you have a hotel and are not staying with friends, might I suggest taking a Taxi/Cab.

2) Carnival Rides are included in the ticket price so don't worry about bringing extra money to ride the rides. However, I would bring extra money for the not-so-cheap and typical carnival food fare and souvenirs. After all, a spiffy EDC 2009 T-Shirt would look amazing in your closet.

3) Security throughout the festival will be easy to find. Just find the bright yellow, light-blue, and navy-blue CSC uniforms and they will be happy to assist you if you have any problem that worries you.

4) If you have any questions related to what you can or cannot bring, please e-mail Insomniac to find out for sure. As usual, try to avoid bringing items of value, be it sentimental or materialistic. Leave them in the hotel room/friend's place. Parking is not always as secure as we are led to believe. Additionally, we will not be held responsible for anything that you could not bring in to this festival.

5) AVOID THE MAIN STAIRS AT ALL COSTS! - Take the smaller corridors that lead through the aisles; I will personally guarantee that you will make it down much faster than that mess that goes through the VIP area. If you are arriving a bit later or find yourself at the top and want to venture into the main stage, go around to the side stages on the far side and enter the coliseum through there.

6) Do not forget your tickets and Will Call sheets. This is common sense, but I've seen many people forget their Will Call sheets and had an issue with Credit Card Verification. It blatantly states to bring this print out, so they should not be blamed for you not following instructions.

Links Of Interest
EDC 2009 Planning & Roll Call (Thread In SoCal Forums)
EDC 2009 Pre-Meet (Thread In SoCal Forums)
EDC 2009 EC Invades WC (East Coast Planning Thread)
ElectricDaisyCarnival.com - Official Electric Daisy Carnival Site
Insomniac.com - Official Insomniac Events Site

Hope to see you there! If you have any additional tips and musings to post, then click the following link for the discussion thread! Additional Tips & Musings For Attending EDC!

 Guide By Robert LeSage (zin) with additional Editing by Alf (alfff) & Brian (melvenorc12).