Electric Forest Reigns Supreme as Most Immersive Festival in the U.S.

Electric Forest continues to exceed all expectations, decades after the festival began. Here’s a look at just what makes this Michigan staple an unbeatable part of dance music culture.

With the oversaturation of music festivals in the United States growing at a rapid pace, ravers are having a harder time deciding where to allocate their ticket funds. Although the lineup is always a huge factor in the decision-making process, the unspoken – and arguably most important factor – lies in the environment a music festival sets to create. Very few events in North America are able to achieve a completely immersive environment with a unique culture, a highly dedicated community, and a theme that can keep attendees coming back for years on end. The only one that really comes to mind is Electric Forest.

This was Exron Music’s fourth year attending Electric Forest, and the passion surrounding this event is still ever-flowing. When it comes time to discuss the schedule of festivals for the year, this one is non-negotiable, and the rest are formulated strategically around this yearly staple. What is it about Electric Forest that is so innately magical? That keeps the “Forest Family” coming back after 15 years?

First and foremost, the excitement for the festival builds all year long. I’ve been a part of the “Electric Forest” Facebook groups for some time now, and they are a constant steady stream of “remember this” moments, or I can’t wait for “this” to happen. For 360 days a year, Electric Forest attendees plan their return to the festival; their outfits, their camping strategy, and their gifts to other festivalgoers. By the time the event begins, the energy is electrified with excitement that has built over the course of an entire year, and by the time the gates open it’s bursting through and racing between the trees of the Sherwood Forest.

Camping at Electric Forest is the next major draw that keeps people coming back for more. Contrary to popular belief regarding “field camping”, Forest ravers spend months crafting their strategy. First, the location is selected and a crew is formed. Group camping is extremely popular, as you can join together with 30+ of your closest friends and pick a hilarious group name that umbrellas the overall vibe of the weekend. The VIP options are highly attractive, with Goodlife Camping taking place inside the festival gates or Lucky Lake bringing a sense of tranquility to the madness with lake-side camping and nightly bonfires. Camping at Electric Forest is a choose-your-own-adventure that keeps people coming back for more.

Once music lovers enter the venue itself, they are enveloped in a magical world, inexplicable through words and only made clear through emotion. Electric Forest takes place at the iconic Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Michigan, surrounding the Sherwood Forest of towering pine trees. When you walk through the gates and stumble first upon the large “Tripolee” stage, you are immediately overcome with joy. The happiness of others around you is overflowing as they return to their soul place and hear the first beat of music on cue. From there, you move closer to the forest, passing by the beloved “Giving Tree” before arriving at what is considered one of the “main stages”, Ranch Arena. The Ranch Arena is a massive mise en scene where live bands such as String Cheese and Odesza performed jaw-dropping sets to thousands of eager onlookers. From there, you finally reach the entrance of the Forest where the mystique truly begins.

Enter: Sherwood Forest, and you’re immediately struck with the decision of “Where to go first?” There are infinite possibilities while exploring, each one with infinitely more possibilities of where to end up. The magic that comes alive inside the forest is precisely what keeps people coming back, over a decade after the event first began. Once inside you’re surrounded by trees decorated with fairy boxes that contain an entire universe inside their tiny enclosures. You walk past colorfully clad performers who appear as if they’ve existed between the trees for eternity. You’ll cruise past the chapel where a wedding between friends is taking place, or explore the new artwork installments that are created with the purpose of opening your mind. The forest is clean yet cluttered with opportunities for exploration, and most importantly the chance to revert to the childlike wonder of discovery.

Inside Sherwood, there sits the “Trading Post”, a place overflowing with trinkets that can be traded for your own rave treasures. After perusing the post, you emerge on the other side where the “Grand Artique” stage sits, my personal favorite. This performance space is small and cozy, encompassed by trees and a wooden porch. But here is where some of the best sets of Electric Forest take place. Each year we look forward to seeing Little Foot perform his forest-inspired brass and bass house to an enthusiastic crowd. There’s also the Honey Comb stage, a 360 space with elevated seating, creating the ultimate intimate music-listening environment.

You emerge on the other side of the Sherwood Forest in a new realm, an almost carnival-like atmosphere home to the Dream Emporium, Carousel Club, and Sherwood Court stages. Sherwood Court hosted artists like Lane 8 and Gryffin this year, some of the most talked about performances. The stage itself is stunning in design and is one of the most beautiful pieces of the Forest puzzle. On the other side is where the hot air balloons sit nestled among the trees, waiting to take flight over the festival. Watching the balloons come alight with fire as they’re filled with air is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and riding in one is next level. Next, there’s the Carousel Club stage, one of the only covered areas in the entire event space. This huge hangar hosts house, techno, and higher-BPM artists for the party-inclined. But most importantly – here sits the Dream Emporium; a rabbit hole of a space that feels like a fever dream once inside. This building hosted a myriad of wild experiences to encounter this year, such as bumper boats, a roller skating rink, a wrestling ring, a sex education suite, an entire ship, and more. Entering the Dream Emporium was a music festival inception, a complete immersion of an experience inside yet another completely immersive experience; creating enough fascination to truly open your mind.

The culture of Electric Forest is one of a kind. After traveling the world and attending music festivals for a decade I have never found a community that embraces familial ties as this one. When something good happens to Forest people I say “that’s my family” with a happy tear in my eye. When something bad happens to Forest people, I say “that’s my family” with a deeply rooted sense of defensiveness. Forest Family is real. It warms your heart, it brings a huge smile to your face, and it fills your brain with the serendipitous feeling of “I Belong.” Forest attendees take part in a massive gifting culture. We bring dozens of gifts for strangers, deposited in the various fairy boxes scattered throughout the festival, underneath the “Giving Tree,” a beautiful Weeping Willow whose spirit reigns bright in the Forest. Gifts are given in person when you share a moment with another Forest-goer, or they’re left in the most unlikely spot that in turn is exactly where you need it to be. The selfless behavior of gifting in the Forest is irreplaceable. It’s inexplicably tied to the culture and it’s so very important.

And that’s exactly why Electric Forest is so immersive. It’s plucking you from the perils of humanity and placing you in this idyllic fairytale land. Where everyone loves you, everyone wants you to succeed, and everyone wants you to experience the very pinnacle of joy. Electric Forest is my favorite festival on Earth, and thousands would agree with me. Once you’re in the Forest Family, you’re in for life.