Electric Zoo 2009 Electric Zoo 2009 was held during Labor Day weekend on September 5, 6, 2009. It featured 55 artists over the course of the 2 days the event spanned.
Electric Zoo 2010 Electric Zoo 2010 was held on Labor Day weekend on September 4, 5, 2010. There were 66 acts during the 2 day festival.
Electric Zoo 2011 Electric Zoo added one more day to the event from previous years, leading to the event being 3 days (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) instead of 2, which led to the performances of over 100 artists (expanding from the 66 of the previous year). The dates of the event were September 2, 3, 4, 2011. The overall attendance for all three days was 85,000.
Electric Zoo 2012 Electric Zoo 2012 was the largest festival yet as over 110,000 people attended over the three days (8/31/12 - 9/2/12) with sold out crowds on Saturday and Sunday. The event was headlined by
Above & Beyond,
Pretty Lights,
David Guetta,
Laidback Luke,
Dada Life,
Tiësto,
Porter Robinson and
Skrillex. Made Event offered free water refill stations, designated help points and employed security staff.
Electric Zoo 2013 Deaths and cancellation The final day of Electric Zoo 2013 on September 1, 2013 was cancelled after two attendees, Jeffery Russ and Olivia Rotondo, died from
hyperthermia and an overdose of
MDMA during the festival, and four others had fallen ill. The organizers of the event and a number of performers provided their condolences to the victims. In response to concerns that the incident could affect future music events in the city,
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's press secretary Marc LaVorgna stated that while the city would investigate the incident, live music events "have been part of the fabric of New York City for decades." On September 3, 2013, Bloomberg made a statement on the matter, lauding organizers for being "nothing but cooperative" in the wake of the tragedy.
Electric Zoo 2014 In response to the incidents that occurred at the 2013 edition, festival organizers worked with the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to conduct a review of Electric Zoo's health and safety practices. The festival was cancelled part-way through its final day, this time due to severe thunderstorms hitting New York City and the United States northeast.
Electric Zoo 2015 In December 2014, it was announced that
ID&T, organizers of the
Tomorrowland festival and a fellow SFX subsidiary, would serve as a "creative partner" for Electric Zoo 2015. The festival was revamped with an "immersive"
zoo-themed atmosphere patterned off ID&T's other franchises, featuring new animal-themed stage designs. The revamp was headed by ID&T creative director Jeroen Jansen, who assisted in launching ID&T's other festival brands in the United States. The partnership came as part of an effort to re-launch the festival in the aftermath of the 2013 deaths; steps were also taken to address comments and complaints received via a survey after the 2014 edition, such as entry times and the number of washrooms available.
Alesso,
Above & Beyond, and
The Chemical Brothers were announced on May 1, 2015 as the first headliners of the festival, with the remainder of the festival's lineup revealed throughout the month. The concert was held over the Labor Day weekend, September 4, 5, 6, 2015.
Electric Zoo 2016 Electric Zoo 2016 took place for its eighth year at Randall's Island during Labor Day weekend, 2–4 September 2016.
Billboard worked with the event to announce the headliners for the 2016 festival, which included Tiesto, Hardwell, and Bassnectar. Other artists began getting announced on 28 April 2016 via Electric Zoo's social media pages. Stages for the 2016 festival were curated by Anjunadeep, ANTS, Buygore,
Dim Mak, Elrow, and Sunday School.
Electric Zoo 2018 Electric Zoo 2018 was held during Labor Day weekend on August 31–September 2. It was called "The Big 10," in honor of the festival's 10th anniversary.
Electric Zoo 2019 Electric Zoo 2019 was held during Labor Day weekend on August 30–September 1.
Electric Zoo 2021 The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The event returned in 2021, with safety protocols including all stages being open-air,, and requiring
proof of vaccination in order to attend. The stages featured a new theme, "Supernaturals", including "The Den" (house and techno), "The Gateway" (melodic trance and melodic bass), "The Teleporter", and the main stage "The Hive". The festival was nearly hampered by rains from
Hurricane Ida.
Electric Zoo 2022 Electric Zoo 2022 was held during Labor Day weekend on September 2–September 4.
Electric Zoo 2023 Electric Zoo 2023 was held during Labor Day weekend on September 1–September 3. It was scheduled to open at 1PM on all three days. This edition was infamously marred with notable problems, however.
Friday, Sept 1 The first day of the festival was cancelled only 2 hours before the expected start time, due to the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation refusing to grant safety permits. Festival officials claimed the cancellation was a result of "global supply chain disruptions", causing the main stage construction to not be finished on time. The main stage remained incomplete throughout the remainder of the festival. The last minute cancelation drew the ire of many, including artists that were set to perform on day 1. Pop-up performances were held in Manhattan by some of the artists that were supposed to perform, including Mau P and Bonnie and Clyde.
Saturday, Sept 2 The festival opening was delayed by 2 hours on Saturday to 3PM, an announcement that also came at the last minute. However, it was reported that the main stage would not actually be opened until close to 5PM. Security was not able to contain the stampede.
Aftermath Despite Electric Zoo stating that they would refund Friday ticket-holders, no news of such refunds would come. Lawsuits would come to light, from a number of different parties. Many frustrated ticket-holders began contacting their banks to initiate
chargebacks; Electric Zoo would dispute some of these chargebacks, leading to even more public backlash.
Electric Zoo 2024 and beyond Electric Zoo was never scheduled for 2024. It remains unclear whether, after the events of 2023, Electric Zoo will return to New York City. Following a chaotic series of renovations and closures, Avant Gardner, the parent company of Electric Zoo, filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 4, 2025. ==Electric Zoo Mexico==