Electric Daisy Carnival started in the 1990s as a simple warehouse rave party in Los Angeles, Calif. It was founded by Stephen Hauptfuhr (aka DJ Mr. Koolaid) and Gary Richards, who hosted the festival at different venues in California throughout the years, including Exposition Park and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, the Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, the Lake Dolores Waterpark in Barstow and the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino. Other editions of the festival occurred outside the United States in India, Japan, China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The International Dance Music Awards nominated EDC Los Angeles as the Best Music Event from 2010-2011, followed by EDC Las Vegas from 2012 to the present. The Electronic Music Awards recognized EDC in 2017 as the Festival of the Year.
In addition to the flagship festivals in Las Vegas and Orlando, there are multiple editions of EDC worldwide in countries like Japan, Mexico and China.