Insomniac Events

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Lore & Background

Insomniac Events, led by founder Pasquale Rotella, had a long history of organizing New Year's Eve festivals in Los Angeles. From 1999 to 2011, it partnered with Go Ventures to produce Together as One at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. However, shortly before the 2011 event, Rotella announced Insomniac would no longer co-produce Together as One, citing conflicts between his creative visions and those of Go Ventures' Reza Gerami, as well as concerns over safety, production quality, and fan experience. At the same time, Rotella revealed a new partnership with the club promoter Giant to create White Wonderland, a competing New Year's Eve event. The first White Wonderland was a two-night festival at the Anaheim Convention Center on December 31, 2011 and January 1, 2012. It required all attendees to wear white-colored clothing, similar to Montreal's Bal en Blanc festival and the Sensation White tour. Despite the breakup, Together as One was still held for 2011–12 by Go Ventures alone, but was cancelled the following year.

In Their Own Story

The inaugural 2011–12 White Wonderland was a two-night event headlined by Benny Benassi, Dada Life, Paul Van Dyk, and Steve Angello of Swedish House Mafia. The event drew a total of 24,000 attendees across both nights, with Saturday night hosting a sell-out crowd of 14,000. The 2012–13 edition was reduced to a single night on New Year's Eve and featured performances by Above & Beyond, Avicii, Bingo Players, Dash Berlin, Dannic, Ferry Corsten, Hardwell, Madeon, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Tritonal. Insomniac announced the 2013-14 lineup on November 24, 2013, including ATB, Congorock, Cosmic Gate, Dash Berlin, Laidback Luke, and Steve Angello. The 2014-15 edition was headlined by Armin van Buuren, Laidback Luke, Showtek, and W&W.

Reader's Guide

Insomniac Events is a festival organizer and event partner, best known for co-creating the White Wonderland electronic music festival with Giant. The festival was a winter-themed event requiring all attendees to wear white clothing. It was held at the Anaheim Convention Center. The first edition in 2011-12 was a two-night event, while subsequent editions were single-night events on New Year's Eve. The 2012-13 edition featured Avicii among its performers. The source does not provide information about Insomniac's relationship with Avicii beyond his performance at that edition, nor does it mention Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, or any record label activities.

Did You Know?

• Insomniac Events co-organized the White Wonderland festival with the club promoter Giant.
• The inaugural White Wonderland took place on New Year's Eve in 2011 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
• Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella ended the partnership with Go Ventures for Together as One due to 'various issues' surrounding commitments to 'safety, production quality and the overall value of our fans' experience.'
• The first White Wonderland was a two-night event with 24,000 total attendees, including a sell-out crowd of 14,000 on Saturday night.
• The 2012-13 edition of White Wonderland featured Avicii among its performers.