The Electric Daisy Carnival is North America’s biggest and loudest electronic dance music festival, with its next edition taking place in May. Its beginnings were humble, with the first incarnation of the festival taking place in 1999 in California. The operation shifted to Las Vegas in 2011 and has never looked back, drawing close to half a million music fans to its wild laser shows, art installations, fair rides and, of course, world class electronic music. However, as with all established festivals, some bright spark thinks that progress equals charging an inordinate amount of money for the right to parade topless round a field, as your senses descend into a euphoric blur. With VIP camping in a Moon Glow tent setting festival goers back a cool $1,099 (additional $60 for a locker) those readers who don’t subsist on a trust fund will want to know how to scrape and save their every dime. Read and learn my young padawans, as all the ways to save your precious cash in Vegas are revealed.

Ditch Taxis and Take the Bus

One of the best ways to burn through your budget in Vegas is to hail taxis, so if you want to save your money for more important things it pays to take the bus instead, which will whisk you from the strip’s casinos to the festival stages. A one-day pass will cost $8, which is a total bargain! Smart asses among you will no doubt be chirping up with β€œbut what about Uber?” – but you try finding a willing Uber driver when half a million crazed people are in town, and you’re dressed as a flamingo, balancing a piΓ±a colada on your beak as your friends perform handstands on the sidewalk. No self-respecting Uber driver is going to touch you, but the bus will always be there when you need it.

Don’t Pack Your Whole Wardrobe

Las Vegas is built on a desert, so take that as a hint that you probably won’t need a fur coat and Ugg boots. You will also be dancing yourself into a sweat drenched stupor for hours on end, so don’t bother taking your entire makeup kit with you. Packing light will save you money, preventing you from having expensive possessions being stolen or you having to store them in a rented RV or in one of the aforementioned rip-off lockers. All you will need is a credit card, the right attitude and your flamingo costume. Everything else will just weigh you down.

Arrive Early and Leave Late

You’ll be at EDC to party, so don’t sell yourself short by arriving and leaving while the festival is pumping. Instead you’d be well advised to book flights that give plenty of leeway either side of the festival, meaning your flights will be cheaper, and your work colleagues’ jealousy levels will be boosted to an all-time high, as you strut your stuff both at EDC and the Las Vegas strip. You never know, you could get tied down by a partner, pet or virus next year, so make the most of your Vegas odyssey while you can. Just make sure you wash the party juice out of that flamingo costume when you do eventually leave.

Real Ravers Load up at the Buffet

With all the best acts stretching deep into the early hours, any serious raver knows that stocking up on energy is a must, and in Vegas nowhere provides food-based energy quite like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Do yourself a favor around lunchtime, escape the trendy food trucks and street food stalls on the festival site, and head where the locals do, to the Studio B Show Kitchen Buffet. Here you can even pre-game on bottomless beverages as you chow down on succulent dishes that won’t break the bank.

Tix 4 Tonight

If thumping bass and strobe lights give you a migraine, you may want to go catch a live show instead. There should be no issue with you getting in with your flamingo costume but check the dress code before you commit to going. With that done, use the Tix 4 Tonight website to book the cheapest last-minute show tickets, and then go shake your tail feathers.