Forest Fam hanging out at the Compound.

Becoming a part of the Forest Fam started last year. My buddy from college, rocked up to EFF with this crew in 2013. I remember he asked me, being the festival queen that I am (duh),  if I had a ticket and if I wanted to come through. In 2013, I was attending The Hangout Fest a month prior, and  Tomorrowland the month after, and it just really wasn’t in my budget to get to the forest that year. So 2014 came around and I got my first forest ticket, fuck yeah! I was finally introduced to this amazing, loving family of about fifteen people, seven cars deep, driving out to Michigan, with might I add, the most super-duper swagged out-boss camp compound I’ve ever seen in my history of camping festivals! These people know their shit!! I’m talking generators, solar panels, diesel LED lights, pop up tents galore, delicious flavorful hookah, grills for endless quesadillas, you name it, we got it! Fuck VIP aka “The Good Life”at EFF, we live the Good Life! We literally are the Kings and Queens of GA camping. This crew has been attending since it was Rothbury Festival in 2008, before it changed to Electric Forest in 2011, so they have built a system for camping that gets perfected and better year after year. This year, for the 5th year of Electric Forest, our campsite was even bigger and better! We had eight cars and twenty-five people! Besides a minor two-hour delay due to a broken down vehicle, (whomp, whomp!) we all made it out to Rothbury, including another car that linked up with us, filled with some very close friends of mine! It was SO amazing! Man, do I love these people!

Passing the Hookah Around.

Now, although they are my true Forest Family, these twenty or so people aren’t the only family I’m talking about. I’m literally talking about the entire festival when I say “Forest Family.” That is the type of community this festival brings. Everyone is so nice, giving high fives all over, sharing hugs, helping each other out, wanting to connect with one another, everywhere! And when I say everyone is there, looking for a deeper connection, I mean everyone, even the Michigan State Police, who honestly show us some of the best examples of law enforcement there is in our country. They are there for the safety and protection of the Forest Family, they want everyone just to be safe and have a fun time. This year I went to high-five an officer and he said, “No, no. ” I looked at him confused. A forest officer refusing a high-five? That is just weird and not normal! But before I could even ponder why, he continued, “You didn’t get the memo? It’s fist bump year!” And then he pounded me. It made me laugh. You just don’t see law enforcement like this at any other fest. You can check out the comments on this thread and read for yourself the experiences people have with these officers. The family is just one big fun-loving group of people, even the cops. Forest Fam are some of the best people on earth!

Michigan State Police hanging out in the Forest.

THE VENUE

Sunrise on the first morning of Electric Forest 2015, Camp Sonny.

Location, location, location! Tucked away in fields of land surrounded by tall green pine trees on Double JJ Ranch, in Rothbury Michigan, is where you will find Electric Forest, and man is it beautiful! Average temperatures in June on the ranch are a high of 79 and low of 58. This year was a bit nippily at night, we hit temps as low as 49 some nights, but our average temperature during the day was 73 and sunny; it was just perfect weather. Should probably mention that I’ve seen some of the best sun rises on these campgrounds.

The festival venue is really hard to describe, but I’ll do my best trying to explain one of the best places ever created. Electric Forest does a a really great job of making every where you go filled with magic and things to look at. There are several larger outdoor stages that hold massive crowds of people; Tripolee, Ranch Arena, and Sherwood Court, hosting  artists such as The String Cheese Incident, Carl Cox, Bassnectar, Skrillex, and Flume. Don’t be fooled that these larger fields are just a “main stage” plopped in the center of it. No, they all provide a different type of scenery to look at besides the stage. Even if you’re in the back, the beautiful environments these stages provide are quite lovely. As you glaze through the sea of people, you’ll find tons of totems and flags, hoola hoopers, poi spinners, glovers and more to look at. Not only do the crowds provide visual elements for each other, but if you’re lucky you might catch a show at Tripolee where hot air balloons become a part of the festival landscape, walk the perimeter of Ranch Arena and you’ll pick up some craft beer, delicious food, maybe scope out some vendors and shops, and look behind you at Sherwood Court and you’ll see the illuminated Sherwood Forest in the distance. Here’s what makes each stage its own special place.

Tripolee Stage

Tripolee near the entrance and exit of the festival is the home of a large ferris wheel, in my opinion, one of the best festival ferris wheels you can ride, because you can actually hear the music from that stage as you ride around! Other festivals it is simply just a view with drained out sounds. As you ride around you can see the campgrounds on one side and all of the forest venue to the other.

The String Cheese Incident at Ranch Arena Saturday Night

Walking further into the venue, Ranch Arena starts to creep upon the tip of the forest. You’ll find trees surrounding the outer perimeters of the wide open space, filled with hammocks and people watching from a distance. You can always be sure to see an amazing show at this stage, with tons of fireworks, visual effects, and special guest appearances. This year alone I caught Skrillex join The String Cheese Incident for some guitar action, and Michael Kang of SCI join Bassnectar. The cross of genre collaborations at Electric Forest is something really unique about this event, which I’ll get to later.

So much to see in Sherwood Forest!

Passing through a massive threshold that reads “Electric Forest”, you start to enter the bizarre and enchanting Sherwood Forest, home of hundreds of trees that break the sunlight during the day and are their own show at night when colorful lights and lasers penetrate them. If you’re looking for smaller intimate stages, you’ll have to find your way to The Observatory, Forest Stage, Silent Disco, or several other hidden places found throughout the forest that host live music, DJ’s, skits and poetry. Good luck actually getting to one of these places. On your way you might will be distracted by the alluring art sculptures, stilt performers, a library with lamps and couches, a saloon, post office or maybe some multi-floor treehouse pagodas. It’s almost impossible to see everything in here. Sometimes just sitting in a hammock, listening to the sounds of people talking, or relaxing in the more quiet areas, is one of my favorite things to do in there. (You can purchase hammocks from ENO hammocks on site, or if any hammocks are not occupied you can hang out in the ones they have set up for attendees!) Even after two years of attendance I have gotten home and seen pictures and said to myself, “Where the fuck was that?” I’m pretty sure my friends that have been attending for seven years still haven’t seen everything either because there is just SO MUCH going on in this weird endless world of curiosity. You never know who you will meet, what you’ll discover, or the endless fascination brought upon your eyes, which is why everyone always says, or at least why I think everyone says, “See You In the FOREST!” because in all honesty, we might cross paths in there, or perhaps not see each other at all, we might see much, much more than we ever imagined.

I have no idea what this is.

If you ever find your way out to the opposite side of the forest this is where you will find Sherwood Court and the home of two new stages: Jubilee, and The Hangar. These stages were absolutely wonderful additions to the festival this year. Jubilee a massively delightful big top tent, draped with chandeliers, fabric, and flags, beaming with green, red and pink lights. I caught Macy Gray’s performance there and it was really awesome.

Jubilee at night.

Although I found this tent very charming, The Hangar wins for the best new stage. Imagine a large barn like structure with a stage towards the back, combined with the ambiance of a modern-day night club, mixed with 1940’s jazz saloon, a vendor area, and the home to a massive wooden bar serving hand crafted Tito’s vodka cocktails. Along the sides of the large open room, you’d find groups of people forming lines to enter secretive places, for example a functioning barber shop, henna tattoo parlor, or my personal favorite, what looks like an “out-of-order” photo booth, a man pokes his head out, opens the curtain and leads you through turning hallways to find intimate bedrooms, where beautiful women in bustier tops and long flowing gowns read you poems in dim light (YUP, it was real).

The “Out of Order” photo booth inside The Hangar.

Electric Forest gives attendees endless options to explore and escape reality in its incredible venue that is transformed into a wonderland leaving you kinda confused, yet fulfilled with astonishment and so much happiness!

THE MUSIC

When you hear the name Electric Forest, I think what comes to mind for most is of course, “Electric” that must mean electronic music only right? Especially with the rapid growth of electronic music in the festival industry, even events like Coachella have over half of their massive line-up dominated by electronic artists. Naturally, one would think the same for this event, but you are so wrong if you think that! While there are a lot of DJ’s and electronic music hosted at Electric Forest, it is far from an electronic music dominated event. You will find psychedelic jam bands, rock bands, hip hop, reggae, folk-indie artists, jazz bands and everything in between. It literally is the most perfect line-up for a music enthusiast! Think of it as a beautiful raver and a tripped out hippie having a baby together. Meanwhile, a rapper has a baby with a groovy reggae sex icon. Then those two babies have a baby together, and that baby is the Electric Forest line-up.

The beauty about it is that the music is not only carried on through the festival itself but also on the campgrounds. You’ll find people jamming out all day to various types of music. Or see a pedicab (new this year) cruise through with different types of music. Let’s not forget to mention after hours. Oh my, the after hours parties at Forest are some of the best! The after parties in the GA camping areas are always off the hook, and there are always so many to find. I love that you can pop up at a random RV and see a DJ spinning, or as you walk back to your campsite you can follow some tunes to find another private party. They are everywhere, and they are amazing!

THE ART

One of the best features any festival can have to enhance its visual appeal is art, and better yet, art everywhere! As I mentioned, all the stages provide an interactive art scape for the attendees, but if you look deeper in little nooks hidden around the venue you’ll find art galleries in the forest, large interactive sculptures, and secret gardens with people sitting in architectural structures. Vendors throughout the festival sell hand crafted wire wrapped jewelry, clothes and more. Now one of my favorite vendors, that I finally got the chance to check out this year was Black Light Visuals aka BLVisuals, where you can get one or both arms dipped in various colors of paint that looks like you have a full arm sleeve tattoo of swirled neon paint awesomeness. I want to give a special shout out to my friend Tucker aka The Festival Guy, who was awesome enough to pay for my BLV arm dip, so I wouldn’t have to go to the ATM. It cost $10 in case you are interested in trying it out next year.

Happy with my BLVisuals arm art matching my custom feather mohawk I made!

Not only does Electric Forest provide the attendees with art, in return the attendees provide Electric Forest with art as well, and lots of it. If you are a part of the official EFF Facebook group, with the months leading up to the festival, you will notice lots of people sharing art they have created to trade with one another or leave at the giving tree in the forest. Costumes, hats, clothing and jewelry that attendees make are some of the best work I’ve seen at any festival. This year I created two new feather mohawks to wear and got a lot of compliments. I actually will be creating more feather mohawks to sell and be writing about why I started making my own. You can check out my DIY festival fashion page for some items for sale in the future!

Awesome Mushroom Totem.

I think my favorite form of art seen at Electric Forest, which most will probably not agree with me, are… dun dun dun… the Totems! I know that there are a lot of views about totems at festivals. Some people love them, others hate them and think they get in the way of watching a performance. I love them and don’t really give a fuck if you don’t! They are so creative! Lots of thought, time and effort goes into making them, and honestly it is so easy to find your friends because of them, or see where you are in a crowd once the professional photos roll out. Not only are they creative I believe they add to the festival landscape while in the crowd, they give you something to look at, and besides that, a lot of them (the signs) are hilarious! If you know me or have been following me, you know that I’m known for carrying around Roland Festival Dinosaur at festivals so my friends can find me. This year I didn’t bring him (sometimes we both need a break) but I of course brought my Roland totem.

THE EXPERIENCE

This is what it’s all about. This is what every festival is about. The Experience. It’s probably the most common phrase I heard being thrown around at IMFCON last year, or while anyone is reviewing a festival. Because that is why we go to festivals. To experience; the music, the art, the people, the overall feeling it gives us, the connections it gives us. I think the real question I’ve found myself asking about all festivals is, “Can I keep going to this festival year after year, and will it bring me a new and enjoyable experience every time?” For most festivals, the answer is shockingly, no. Once I’ve done it a few times, that’s that, I want to experience something new, some of them don’t bring you a different experience every time. But when I ask myself, “Can I keep going to Electric Forest over and over again?” Only two words come to mind: FUCK YES!

 ALWAYS ROOM FOR LOVE & IMPROVEMENT

Finishing up I want to mention some things about this year as some of my favorite things and not so favorite things about Electric Forest 2015:

WHAT I LOVED…

1. The fuzzy rug at our camp compound. I highly recommend everyone get one, or several! I’m pretty sure we are going to bring a lot to fill our entire compound next year. Why you ask? Well, it provided a wonderful place to chill out besides in a camp chair, gave us a new comfy place to take power naps, and of course, it felt amazing! I really owe my Forest Fam so much credit for their ideas that I’ve brought with me to other camping fests. As mentioned, I fucking love you people!

2. The Hangar. Please keep this forever EFF, what a great addition!

3. The stage make-over at Tripolee was beautiful!

4. I got to meet up and see so many friends from around the country this time around. Thank you for sharing some special memories with me, you know who you are.

LOVED NOT SO MUCH…

1. The increase in size and popularity of the festival brought massive lines the first day. I hate to say it, but I had to cut the line to avoid waiting for over 3+ hours like some other people did. I had friends that had to bribe and pay security to sneak in through the Good Life area. That’s ridiculous! I have never seen a line like that at a festival seriously EVER! I also saw way too much car traffic with people trying to get in to their campsite the first day. It was just insanity! Please try to fix this issue next year by having an earlier start time so the crowd control can be better. That or don’t over sell the event.

2. Add more water stations if you are going to add 20,000+ attendees on top of last years attendance. There were lots of times I just bought water ($3, fairly cheap) because I didn’t want to wait in line at a water refill stations as the lines were too long.

3. While I appreciate EFF trying to stay as green as possible, it was horrible not having a printed map of the campgrounds or the venue with set times. While the mobile app is nice, I prefer a printed schedule (which I did print), but I didn’t have a map of the festival grounds printed out, and it wasn’t on the mobile app, which caused a bunch of issues the first day trying to figure out how to get to the festival grounds from where we were (Camp Sonny, in the very last lot).

4.  There were barely any high fives the last 3 days of the festival upon entering the venue. In fact, the only time I saw the line high-fiving was when there was that ridiculous line of people on the first day. I know for some, you’re probably thinking, “Who gives a fuck!?” Well to be honest, that was one of my favorite things when attending my first EFF 2014. Endless high fives walking into the entrance. Let’s bring that back next year!

5. The sound volume was defiantly lowered at a lot of stages this year. Let’s not forget to turn up next year! (Pun intended.)

Below you’ll find my full gallery of pictures from Electric Forest Festival 2015! You can also see the full album on my Facebook by clicking here. I will also be editing a 2015 recap video! You can watch my Electric Forest 2014 Experience video by clicking here. Until next year Forest Fam…SEE YOU IN THE FOREST!