The numbers are in: Ticket sales place the number of people at Fair Park for the Electric Daisy Carnival on Saturday night at somewhere between 21,000 and 24,000.
At 11 p.m., the last headcount taken estimated that some 21,000 had already passed through the gates.
These numbers fall pretty much in line with the figures anticipated by the event's promoters, Insomniac Events, which came in at between 18,000 and 22,000. Off-duty officers and private security staffs were brought in based on these figures -- a much smaller figure than the site's established maximum capacity of 42,927.
Reports of "possible heat/drug related" started trickling in at around 8 o'clock, with the first possible death-related report coming at 8:30 p.m. By 11 p.m., on-site command posts were established, with added police and fire-rescue officers setting up on festival grounds. At around midnight, authorities on hand decided to place into action a "soft close" plan of the Automotive Building in response to worries "concerning the public health aspect of this event." Between 1 and 1:30 a.m., the "soft close" plan went into effect, which explains the early end to Skrillex's set-closing indoor set.
In total, 30 people were transported off the grounds and to area hospitals for "heat, drug and alcohol related
issues." Only two arrests were made -- one for public intoxication and one for possession of MDMA (ecstacy).
Insomniac Events, however, was issued a total of seven citations by the city -- two for overcrowding, two more for failure to obtain a count of occupants, and three for obstruction of justice. We're still waiting on word from Insomniac Events beyond the statement issued by company CEO and founder Pasquale Rotella early Saturday morning.
In the meantime, Unfair Park has the entire timeline of events provided the city, which further details the above events. After the jump, feel free to peruse the event contract agreed upon and signed by officials from both the City of Dallas and Insomniac Events.