The Randall’s Island electronic music festival that was plagued last year by two deadly drug overdoses will return this year, organizers said Tuesday.
Tickets to the Electric Zoo — where two concert-goers overdosed on the club drug “Molly” last summer — will be staged Aug. 29-31 and tickets go on sale this week.
“We are incredibly excited to bring Electric Zoo back to New York,” said creator Mike Bindra.
“The opportunity to again host Electric Zoo on Randall’s Island is a responsibility we take seriously, and we look forward to expanding our safety and security measures in order to further improve the concert experience for our fans,” he added.
This year, the festival will crack down on illegal drug use by increasing security and requiring all attendees to watch a public service announcement about Molly before gaining entry, a press release states.
Drug-sniffing dogs will be on site along with more signage declaring drug use is forbidden. Some security officers will have NYPD narcotics backgrounds, organizers said.
The festival will also provide “electrolytes at little or no cost to concertgoers” to prevent fans from becoming dehydrated, which can contribute to drug overdoses. The length of each show will also be shortened, according to the press release.
Last August, Jeffrey Russ, a 23-year-old Syracuse University grad, and Olivia Rotondo, a 20-year-old University of New Hampshire student, died after taking “bad Molly,” cops said.
At least four other music fans were hospitalized after suffering crippling effects from the drug, which is similar to ecstasy.
Organizers opted to cancel the concert midway through, saying, “Because there is nothing more important to us than our patrons, we have decided in consultation with the New York City Parks Department that there will be no show today.”
Festival plans this year include a “PSA campaign developed by a youth-culture oriented marketing firm.” Fans will be required to watch it before they can validate their ticket, according to the press release.
Organizers also plan to increase “security posture at the transportation staging areas” and “the institution of background checks of all on-site vendors and employees,” organizers said.
Tickets go on sale April 29.