“As our beloved headliners, you’re all the captain now,” said Insomniac in a statement confirming the first-ever EDC Somalia.
Insomniac‘s aggressive global conquest has manifested in the form of a brand-new, pirate-themed festival. The debut edition of EDC Somalia will take place exactly one year from today on April 1, 2026 on a yet-to-be-developed plot of land on the coast of Mogadishu.
Insomniac Founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella appeared to let the announcement slip by accident during a live KTLA interview being watched by millions of people. “We change the stage design every year, and then we tour it around the world,” he said of the company’s flagship Electric Daisy Carnival event brand. “It’s been in Siberia, Sudan, Venezuela, Gaza, Afghanistan, Somalia — oh!”
After a pause, Rotella confirmed the lattermost location. “We’re going to Somalia,” he admitted. “I’m just going to say it, we’re going to Somalia.”
Insomniac appears to be taking a page out of Tampa festival Shipwrecked Music Festival‘s book by incorporating elements of pirate lore into EDC Somalia’s immersive production and decor. Fans with a sense of adventure can look forward to exhilarating stage takeovers, some of which the promoter admits could be by force.
Not everyone is so excited. International NGO Human Rights Watch issued a statement criticizing Insomniac’s decision, arguing, “While we are remiss to discourage any nation from cultivating their tourism industry, nobody benefits from the international crisis that would undoubtedly ensue when tens of thousands of ravers are chewing their faces off in a region plagued by crime and terrorism.”
Social media commentators have also widely suggested that EDC Somalia will be “The next Fyre Festival.” By EDM Identity’s count, that would make the fledgling gathering the 1,678th Fyre Festival that has taken place since 2017’s actual Fyre Festival — not including the upcoming Fyre Festival 2, which will almost certainly not happen.
Insomniac has said that it will announce travel bundles in the coming weeks, including one controversially named the “Captain Package.”
