Festivals
Pasquale Rotella
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Insomniac
~200,000 per day
EDC Las Vegas 2026 daily attendance
2026
Billboard reported Insomniac's own estimate of roughly 200,000 attendees per day at EDC Las Vegas's 30th-anniversary edition; this is a company-stated event figure, not a personal metric.
Source: Billboard — Pasquale Rotella Interview: EDC 30th Anniversary & Future of Insomniac (retrieved 2026-09-16)
Hero metrics are sourced, person-specific measures of live-music economic footprint. Company metrics are labelled as company metrics; no synthetic score is used.
Founder and CEO of Insomniac, the dance-music festival and events company behind Electric Daisy Carnival.
Last updated 2026-09-16
In short
Pasquale Rotella is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Insomniac. Built and still runs the company that produces EDC Las Vegas, one of the largest dance-music festivals in the world. Pasquale Rotella founded Insomniac in 1993 and remains its founder and CEO, according to the company's own leadership page.
Quick facts
- Current role
- Founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Organisation
- Insomniac
- Primary category
- Festivals
- Known for
- Founding Insomniac; Electric Daisy Carnival; Dance-music festival production at stadium-motorsport scale
Executive summary
Pasquale Rotella founded Insomniac in 1993 and remains its founder and CEO, according to the company's own leadership page. Insomniac produces Electric Daisy Carnival and a wider roster of dance-music events, and Rotella has run the company continuously since its founding, including through its 30th-anniversary edition of EDC Las Vegas in May 2026.
Billboard's 2026 interview timed to that anniversary reported Insomniac's own estimate of roughly 200,000 attendees per day at EDC Las Vegas, placing it among the largest dance-music festivals staged anywhere. DJ Mag separately reported total attendance across the event's three days exceeding 500,000.
Rotella's business sits specifically in festival and event production rather than touring or venue ownership; Live Index records the scope Insomniac itself states rather than a broader industry remit.
Why Pasquale Rotella matters in live music
EDC Las Vegas is one of the largest recurring dance-music gatherings in North America, and its continued growth under Rotella's direction has helped establish Las Vegas Motor Speedway as a major festival site and sustained large-scale, all-night electronic-music events as a mainstream festival category rather than a niche one.
Insomniac's move from an independent company to majority ownership by Live Nation (completed in 2013) placed a large share of North American dance-music festival capacity inside the largest live-entertainment group, while Rotella retained day-to-day creative and operational control of the brand he founded.
Career record
- 1993Founded Insomniac, according to the company's own history.
- 1997Began the Electric Daisy Carnival brand within Insomniac's event slate, per Insomniac's own materials.
- 2012Moved EDC Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- 2013Live Nation acquired a majority stake in Insomniac.
- 2026Led Insomniac through EDC Las Vegas's 30th-anniversary edition.
Sphere of influence
Levels are categorical — Core, Major, Significant, Limited — and each is stated with the evidence it rests on. No numeric score is published, because none would be defensible.
- Dance-music festivals Core
- He founded and continues to run Insomniac, one of the largest dance-music festival companies by attendance.
- Festival production Major
- Insomniac produces a wide slate of branded events beyond EDC, sourced from the company's own materials.
- Corporate structure Significant
- Live Nation holds a majority stake in Insomniac, giving Rotella's decisions a bearing on the larger group's dance-music festival exposure.
Entity relationships
Current
Pasquale Rotella founded and leads Insomniac.
Pasquale Rotella operates with a majority stake held by Live Nation Entertainment.
Timeline
- 1993Founded Insomniac.
- 2013Live Nation took a majority stake in the company.
- 2026EDC Las Vegas marked its 30th anniversary under Rotella's continued leadership.
Related Live Index research and records
References and sources
- Meet Pasquale Rotella — Insomniac. Company source. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: States his founding of Insomniac in 1993 and current role.
- 'Promoters Are a Dying Breed': Pasquale Rotella Is Fighting for Another 30 Years of EDC Las Vegas — Billboard. Trade press. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: 2026 EDC Las Vegas attendance estimate and 30th-anniversary framing.
- Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella: 'EDC is still underground in a lot of ways' — DJ Mag. Trade press. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Reports EDC Las Vegas 2026 total attendance over three days exceeding 500,000.