EDC is under a microscope as one of the biggest electronic dance music festivals in the country and in the world. We were incredibly saddened to learn that on the first night of EDC Montgomery Tsang, a 24 year old man from California passed away after being transported to a local hospital. On Saturday night Anthony Anaya, a 25 year old man from Everett, Washington passed away. The cause of death has not yet been announced for either person, but details concerning the autopsy will be arriving shortly. At this point it is believed that both med passed away due to medical conditions. These are the only deaths we’ve heard of thus far from the event and it is incredibly unfortunate that they happened.
In a crowd of approximately 134,000 people two deaths out of all of those is still a decent safety record, though our goal is of course zero deaths at an event. We are fortunate up here in the Pacific Northwest to have the fantastic and very visible Conscious Crew with USC Events and their friendly faces wandering around with water and good vibes taking care of us at all the big USC shows. Unfortunately it sounds like based on some of the issues with Day 1 of EDC those important resources weren’t as visible at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That said, Insomniac released this official statement:
Today we learned some very tragic news, that after attending the festival a guest of the show has passed away. We are deeply saddened by this news, and hope that everyone will join us in keeping his family and friends in their thoughts during this very difficult time. Dance music fans pride themselves in being part of a loving community and, as we get ready to start the second night of the show, we ask everyone to help us keep this event safe. Look after your group of friends, utilize the buddy system, and if you see something, say something.
No one should ever hesitate to ask any of our medical staff, public safety personnel or Insomniac staff for help, or call 911 in case of an emergency. One death is one too many, and we all must do our part to keep each other safe, healthy and happy, tonight and every night. –Insomniac Events
We won’t be able to elaborate too much until we know more details surrounding these unfortunate deaths, but this is yet another tragic reminder to take care of yourselves and the people around you. It’s incredibly heartbreaking that one of them was a local to the PNW area, it hit home for us in a big way. As many of us are getting ready to go to Paradiso we want you to remember that most of all, take care of yourselves. Dance Music Northwest is all about having fun, but if you’ll be taking substances to enhance your fun PLEASE do everything you can to practice harm reduction.
We’ve talked about great raving basics and harm reduction in the past, please be safe. Festivals like this are in hot areas, so you need to drink more water than usual. You’ll also be losing a lot of sweat and nutrients while dancing, so remember to drink electrolytes and take breaks to give your body a rest. We want to have you dancing with us for many years to come.
Stay tuned for more updates on this story, and we look forward to seeing you all at Paradiso this weekend.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
