The two-weekend festival in Rothbury starts Thursday afternoon. Get a musical preview via two Local Spins’ playlists, valuable links and learn why so many fans come back to this special place year after year.
Lighting Up the Woods: The wondrous Sherwood Forest will be full by Thursday evening. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Glowing lights strung across tree-lined walkways. Towering wooden sculptures at every clearing. Merry folk wandering blissfully through it all.
It’s a real-life enchanted forest if there ever was one.
Colorful Concertgoers: 40,000 strong are expected this weekend. (Photo/Anna Sink)
On Thursday afternoon, Electric Forest returns for another mammoth, double-weekend festival at Double JJ Resort in tiny Rothbury, inflating the area’s year-round population of around 400 to upwards of 40,000.
This year’s lineup includes The String Cheese incident, Bassnectar, Griz, Misterwives, Hiss Golden Messenger and even Michigan’s own Michigan Rattlers. Spanning two consecutive weekends — June 21-24 and June 28-July 1 — the festival still has tickets available for both sessions at $199.50 for a 2-day pass and $309.75 for a 4-day pass.
(See more details at electricforestfestival.com. For a viewable schedule, go online here and download the mobile app before arriving at Electric Forest.)
Only a 60-minute jaunt north of Grand Rapids and other neighboring communities, Electric Forest finds many West Michigan residents making the festival an annual tradition. Nathan Purchase, of Muskegon, will make his sixth trip to the music gathering this weekend.
As a music photographer and tour manager for Desmond Jones, Purchase is quite familiar with the world of live music, especially when it comes to festival madness. Making his first trip to the forest when it was called simply Rothbury in 2009, he recalls it as a pinnacle experience.
‘PROJECTING HOW AWESOME IT IS AND HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS THERE’
“It changed my life completely, to be honest,” Purchase said before departing for this weekend’s festival. “I didn’t really know what I was doing with my life and going to that festival made me realize I wanted to build my life around music and find a way to not only get into these events for free, but do it by projecting how awesome it is and how beautiful it is there.”
Sign of the Times: Electric Forest (Photo/Anna Sink)
This year Purchase will be photographing for Baltimore-based magazine, The Jamwich. He plans to catch sets by Griz, Thundercat and every set by The String Cheese Incident, one of his favorites.
“I’m going to try to capture as much as I can while I’m there. I just plan on wandering and finding music that I’ve never seen or heard before,” Purchase said. “This is the only event of its size in Michigan. It’s one of the few places you’ll see these acts in an outdoor setting.”
In total, Electric Forest (focused primarily on electronic music and jam bands) boasts numerous stages across its sprawling 80-acre footprint, each with its own unique name and ambiance (and one stage is new for 2018). The stages include Tripolee, Ranch Arena, Sherwood Court, Forest Stage, The Observatory, Jubilee, Carousel Club (located at the back of the Hangar), Grand Artique and Brainery. Some featured artists perform both weekends; others — such Keys N Krates and Betty Who (Weekend 1) and Marshmello and Get Real (Weekend 2) — just one or the other.
Charming Individuality: Electric Forest’s calling card. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Vendors are abundant, in variety and in numbers. A popular late-night snack, the adored Spicy Pie will undoubtedly provide weary foresters with greasy sustenance around the clock. An isle of goods vendors will offer everything from vibrant festival clothes to hammocks and moon mats. In addition to countless musical performances, a number of gatherings for meditation, yoga, and silent disco will take place. There’s even a barber shop and tattoo parlor.
“It’s very close-knit. Everyone looks out for everyone else,” Purchase said.
“With every large crowd you’re bound to have a few bad eggs, but I feel like for the majority, Electric Forest is really special because everyone is there based off of love in a way. So that’s somewhat unlike other festival experiences. I think a lot of that is generated from Sherwood Forest itself.”
For Electric Forest Rules and recommendations for campers, check out the frequently asked questions online here. To get you ready for a weekend of music in the woods, Local Spins has created playlists of some featured artists below.
WRITER RICKY OLMOS: Electric Forest 2018 – Playlist No. 1
PHOTOGRAPHER ANNA SINK: Electric Forest 2018 – Playlist No. 2
Check out some Local Spins coverage of Electric Forest 2017: https://localspins.com/electric-forest-whimsical-groovy-as-ever-weekend-1-recap/
ELECTRIC FOREST 2018 MAP
Copyright 2018, Spins on Music LLC
