The Electric Zoo Festival is the premier festival to attend on the east coast this summer. Electric Zoo has an incredible line up and they even added an extra day so it’s now a full 3 day festival. Last year the event was only held Fri./Sat. but there is plenty of demand from us - the festival go’er - so Electric Zoo decided to add Sunday as well. Everything in New York has character - the people, the food and even the festivals have something different and special. Even the DJ’s that are booked for the event who’ve played all over the world are especially excited to play in front of a frenzy of people in New York on Randall’s Island. Here is our guide to Electric Zoo 2011 with all of the information you need to prepare yourself and make Electric Zoo your best festival ever.
General Information
In the few short years that is has been around, Electric Zoo has quickly evolved into one of the United States premier electronic dance music festivals. Running over Labor Day Weekend 2011 in New York City, the list of superstar DJ’s scheduled (with more TBA) is sure to impress any EDM fan.
Dates: Friday, September 2 - Saturday, September 3 - Sunday, September 4, 2011 (rain or shine)
Doors: Open at 11AM and close at 11PM daily
Tickets: General Admission, VIP, and Platinum Experience ticket info can be found here.
Location: Randall’s Island Park in New York City
4 Stages: Main Stage, Hilltop Arena, Sunday School Grove, and Red Bull Music Academy Riverside
All ages welcome
Artists
Although more artists are sure to be added, here is a list of those announced for Electric Zoo as of now (July 19th):
To check out FestivalZOO’s Top 5 Recommended DJs for this event, click here.
Venue
Randall’s Island Park in New York City runs along the East River between Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. The beautiful grass event space where the Electric Zoo festival is held is an area of about 24 acres.
Transportation
Ferry
Ferries will be traveling to and from Randall’s Island Park for all three days of the festival, running approximately every 15 minutes throughout the day. East 35th Street Ferry Landing is where you need to be for the departures. East 35th Street Ferry Landing is located at the intersection of East 35th Street at the FDR Drive. DIRECTIONS???
Ferry tickets are limited. To ensure you have a spot on the eco-friendly ferry, if that is your preferred method of transportation, the easiest thing to do is to purchase a your ferry pass with your festival ticket. Click on any of the options below:
- General Admission 3 Day Pass with Ferry
- General Admission Friday Pass with Ferry
- General Admission Saturday Pass with Ferry
- General Admission Sunday Pass with Ferry
- VIP Experience 3 Day with Ferry
- VIP Experience Friday Pass with Ferry
- VIP Experience Saturday Pass with Ferry
- VIP Experience Sunday Pass with Ferry
- Platinum Experience 3 Day
- Platinum Experience Friday
- Platinum Experience Saturday
- Platinum Experience Sunday
The ferry pass/ticket pass combos will provide you with a round trip for each day that your festival pass is valid (1 round trip for Single Day Passes, 3 total round trips for 3 Day Passes). There is NO GUARANTEE that ferry tickets will be available to purchase separately at a later.
Bus
Electric Zoo shuttle bus - New for 2011!
The Electric Zoo shuttle buses will travel to and from Randall’s Island Park for all three days of the festival throughout the day. Pick up and drop off will take place on East 124th St. (exact cross street TBA).
Similar to ferry passes, supplies are limited and there is NO GUARANTEE that bus passes will be available to purchase separately at a later date. If you and your friends plan on taking the bus, simply purchase a combination bus pass and festival pass. These passes provide you with a round trip for each day that your festival pass is valid (1 round trip for Single Day Passes, 3 total round trips for 3 Day Passes). Here are your ticket options:
- General Admission 3 Day Pass with Shuttle Bus
- General Admission Friday Pass with Shuttle Bus
- General Admission Saturday Pass with Shuttle Bus
- General Admission Sunday Pass with Shuttle Bus
- VIP Experience 3 Day with Shuttle Bus
- VIP Experience Friday with Shuttle Bus
- VIP Experience Saturday with Shuttle Bus
- VIP Experience Sunday with Shuttle Bus
MTA Special Event Express Buses
Public transportation is also an option and that will be extremely wallet-friendly! Festival go’ers will take the 4/5/6 or Metro-North Railroad to 125th St, then take the X80 express Bus on Lexington Ave between 126 and 125 Sts, which runs nonstop to Randall’s Island. Be prepared to pay a $5.50 round-trip fare on the way to Randall’s Island. If you transfer from the subway or bus with your Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard, only $3.25 is deducted. The 7-Day Express Bus Plus is the only Unlimited Ride MetroCard accepted on the X80. For additional info, visit www.mta.info.
Walking
Electric Zoo Festival go’ers have a few options for getting to Randall’s Island Park on foot. If you are heading over between the hours of 6am - 9pm, you can walk across the footbridge from E. 103rd St. in Manhattan onto Randall’s Island Park. Plan on it taking approximately 20-25 minutes to walk from the Manhattan side of the footbridge to the festival entrance. Or you can walk across the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. Estimated walking time is about 15 minutes from Manhattan, about 30 minutes from Queens, and about 15 minutes from the Bronx.
Driving
For directions from Manhattan to Randall’s Island Park, click here.
For directions from Queens to Randall’s Island Park, click here.
For directions from Long Island to Randall’s Island Park, click here.
For directions from the Bronx to Randall’s Island Park, click here.
For directions from Brooklyn to Randall’s Island Park, click here.
For directions from New Jersey to Randall’s Island Park, click here.
Parking on Randall’s Island will be very limited. If you plan on taking your car onto the island, the easiest thing to do is purchase a festival pass that also includes a parking pass. Please note* - you only need one pass per vehicle. Also, there is absolutely NO tailgating and NO overnight parking. Below are your festival/parking pass combination options:
- General Admission 3 Day Pass with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- General Admission Friday Pass with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- General Admission Saturday Pass with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- General Admission Sunday Pass with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- VIP Experience 3 Day with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- VIP Experience Friday with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- VIP Experience Saturday with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- VIP Experience Sunday with Parking (includes parking pass for 1 vehicle)
- Platinum Experience 3 Day
- Platinum Experience Friday
- Platinum Experience Saturday
- Platinum Experience Sunday
Coming from out of town
For those flying into town for this event, there are three major airports in the area LaGuardia (LGA, approximately 6 miles to Randall’s Island Park), John F. Kennedy (JFK, approximately 17 miles to Randall’s Island Park) and Newark (ERW, approximately 26 miles to Randall Island’s Park).
Festival go’ers that do not have such a far distance to travel can also consider taking the train or the bus. Options include New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, Long Island Railroad (LIRR), and Metro North as they all have trains in and out of New York City on a daily basis. The New York train terminals are PENN Station, Grand Central Station, and the closest option, Harlem 125th Street - Metro North.
As for the bus, the BOLT bus travels from Baltimore, Boston, Cherry Hill, Philadelphia and Washington DC to several New York City locations on a daily basis. For more info, go to www.boltbus.com. While there are a number of bus companies that travel to midtown Manhattan via the Port Authority Bus Terminal. From this terminal you can catch a number of subways. More info can be found at www.ny.com/transportation/port_authority.html.
Hotels
If you are attending the festival for more than one day and you are in the market for a hotel, here are a few to check out. Keep in mind, this event being held over a holiday weekend in an already expensive city, except some steep rates and expect that most hotels will likely sell out. Also, be proactive and map out your route to the event ahead of time. The majority of these hotels are only a few miles from Randall’s Island Park but it may take you approximately an hour if you are traveling via public transportation.
These hotels should appeal to a variety of budgets:
- Courtyard by Marriott New York Manhattan / Upper East Side
- The Franklin
- Marmara Manhattan Hotel
- Hotel Wales
- Royal Park Hotel
- The Pod Hotel
- Hotel 17
- Homewood Suites by Hilton / Edgewater - New Jersey
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Suites Jersey City - New Jersey
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To get the most out of the city I suggest new tool called City Maps has just been released. It’s very cool, like a virtual, interactive map of NYC. It has every block and every neighborhood… you just click on the business and can find out anything from parking prices to menu specials, to daily clothing sales… it’s like 10 websites rolled into one! Very helpful.
Thank u Greta…I’m sure that’s going to be major help for tons of party animals!!!