Electric Forest Highlights: Deep-woods grooves, gems

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Although the final day brought tragic and rainy notes, Electric Forest 2026 delivered plenty of outstanding performances and memory-making gems. The recap, photos and video highlights.

Explosive Festival Finale: Illenium and Wooli heating up the stage on Sunday night. (Photo/Eric Stoike)

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For three-plus days, the 14th Electric Forest delivered just about everything its sold-out crowd came for: bright skies, dust-kicking dance floors and the kind of after-dark sprawl that turns the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury into a vibrant city of its own.

Then late Sunday, the weather had other ideas. With storms threatening the grounds, organizers halted performances and evacuated the site for a couple of hours over safety concerns before the festival regrouped to close out the night.

It wasn’t the only setback on the festival’s final day: Tragic news came earlier in the day that a newborn baby was found dead in a porta-potty, prompting an investigation by Michigan State Police that is still ongoing. The body was found by a restroom maintenance worker during a routine check. Police are searching for the mother and an autopsy is being conducted. More about the incident at MLive.com.

On the music side, Electric Forest boasted some surprises and memorable gems, something that Michigan’s own Dixon’s Violin cautioned fans about during his traditional opening set Thursday on the Observatory Stage: “I always tell you to release expectations, because it’s gonna be different every time.”

Or as producer Jackie Hollander proclaimed from the stage: “Put on your kicks for the dance all night.”

As in years past, this column trains its eye on the discoveries — the rising names and off-the-path sets that reward a little wandering. There was no shortage of them this year. Below are the performances and DJ sets that stood out most from where I was posted up.

JACKIE HOLLANDER: Thursday belonged to Tripolee, and the San Francisco-based melodic house and techno producer set the tone, opening the stage’s marathon night at 8:45 p.m. A self-taught, slow-burn talent, Hollander delivered exactly the euphoric-melodies-over-a-driving-percussive-gallop blend I’d hoped for after her set captivated me on January’s Groove Cruise.

Forest creatures of all kinds roamed the festival. (Photo/Anna Sink)

WESTEND: New York’s Tyler Morris pulled the weekend’s most intriguing doubleheader — a late Thursday set at 11:45 p.m. and an 11 p.m. Friday turn at Honeycomb. In my festival preview, I suggested the respective sets might be a draw, but in my opinion the intimacy of the Honeycomb set coupled with a 10:30 p.m. artist meet-and-greet won the day.

BOB MOSES: The Vancouver-bred, Brooklyn-forged duo offered two looks — Saturday at 10:45 p.m. on the intimate Grand Artique stage and Sunday at 11:30 at Tripolee. Fresh off new album BLINK, Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance traded their live-band setup for a deeper, club-centric DJ ride. And much like Westend’s Honeycomb experience, it was the Grand Artique’s enclosed intimacy that won out the weekend for Bob Moses.

VANDELUX: When ears needed a breather from the heavier four-on-the-floor house rhythms and the smash-and-grab waveforms of bass/dubstep, Evan White was the antidote — a Saturday 9:15 p.m. set at The Observatory and a 1:15 a.m. follow at Honeycomb. The Vancouver-born, San Francisco-based multi-instrumentalist’s live-electronic blend of restraint, soulful processed vocals and live saxophone, his retro nostalgia wired into modern production is the perfect sound for Electric Forest and those looking to “catch their vibe.”

After the late-Sunday weather related pause which caused many sets to be canceled, Ranch Arena crescendoed with an unexpected b2b of Illenium and Wooli, and Tripolee brought it all home with an emotive and powerful set from Denver’s Lane 8.

Earlier in the weekend, Michigan acts had a chance to shine, too, with the Detroit Party Marching Band seemingly popping up everywhere to brings smiles to fans (beyond their scheduled on-stage sets) and keyboardist-singer Caitlin Cusack of Grand Rapids performing at Grand Artique on Saturday night.

The late-Sunday pause aside, the weekend ran with an eclectic camaraderie for which the Forest is known. It has a way of rewarding the curious, and 2026 was no exception — storms, late nights and all.

Check out full coverage, photos, video of Day 1 here: Opening day’s sunshine, thunderous music & ‘getting lost in the magical’

PHOTO GALLERY: Electric Forest (Days 2-4)
Photos by Eric Stoike