Tens of thousands of heavily beaded, randomly costumed, and/or barely clothed EDM fans went nuts on Randall's Island yesterday for the sold-out opener of the annual Electric Zoo music festival. The dance party, called The 6th Boro this year, continues today and tomorrow, and there seems to be only a few tickets left.
There are five stages at EZoo 2017, and on Friday 28 different acts--including Snails, DJ Snake, Dada Life, and Sasha & John Digweed--made the big crowds shuffle, bounce, head-bang, mosh, or bliss out, depending. The main stage comes complete with a massive elephant head, and the two other smaller outdoor venues feature an aquatic theme (the "Riverside" stage) and a "gritty graffiti" vibe at 6 Pointz.
A pair of covered venues, Awakenings and the Hilltop Arena, seem alarmingly close to each other, but once you're under the roof the music's so loud there's no bleed from one to the other.
There are plenty of good food options on hand, including stars like Ice and Vice, Big Mozz, Uma Temakaria, and Mighty Quinn's. Booze of all sorts is readily available, but there are also free water refill stations scattered throughout the grounds. EZoo requires that you use their electronic wristband-wallet system for all of your purchases (which means you'll likely arrive home with leftover funds still embedded in your bracelet), and food prices all seem a dollar or three higher than at other festivals this summer.
There were a few technical glitches with the wristbands yesterday (load yours up with money before you go, if possible!) and security lines at the entrances were, as always, slower than you'd like them to be, but for the most part EZoo has the whole festival thing down pat, and the day was a total blast.
