Electric Zoo, despite all of its mishaps and bad fortune, keeps on getting up after all of the haymakers the world throws at it. One has to admire the resiliency that the festival has shown. Even after two years of last minute cancellations, the festival is set to come back in 2015 for its 7th year. Today it announced the dates for the upcoming edition of the festival, taking place as it normally does, over Labor Day weekend, from Sept. 4 to Sept. 6.
The festival also revealed the new artwork for the Zoo and hinted at some major changes. A tweet sent out by the festival says, "Reimagined. Recharged. Reenergized. The transformation is coming." There are no hints at what it could be, especially since last year was a major change from the year before. One guess might be a greater emphasis on the theme of animals and creating a "zoo" atmosphere. However, with nine months to go before the festival, it is too early to say.
Electric Zoo is in desperate need of a makeover after huge set backs over the past two years. Two years ago, two individuals died after overdosing on molly, or what they believed to be molly, that they consumed at the festival. In response the organizers cancelled the third day proactively. As a result, the festival implemented strict safety policies for 2014 that included incredibly powerful surveillance cameras, a TSA style search upon entry and drug sniffing dogs, which according to one study in Australia, are actually not as effective as one might think.
The 2014 festival seemed to be going well until a large thunderstorm rolled through the area and forced the cancellation of day three about three hours in. The festival has had to issue day three refunds for two straight years and has been reeling from the public backlash of cancelling the third day of its festival twice in a row.
Now it appears they are trying to do a total image makeover for next Labor Day. We will see if that is enough to make the fans try their luck again this year.
