The state’s largest and most celebrated festival rolled out Thursday in Rothbury with a host of internationally renowned electronic music stars and a pair of Michigan acts. The recap, photos and video.
Dazzling Day 1: The late-night scene at Sherwood Court on Thursday. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
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With a chest-thumping roar, Electric Forest 2025 lifted off Thursday in Rothbury with some 40,000 revelers embracing internationally renowned electronic music stars, a smattering of Michigan artists and an unfettered, spirited demeanor.
“There’s nothing like it,” said festivalgoer Chad Wogo, who made the 20-hour drive from Dallas, Texas, with a friend to experience his second Electric Forest. “Everyone’s so nice here. You can do anything. Everyone’s so sweet and everyone’s always got your back no matter what.”
Sunny skies and pleasant temperatures with an ample helping of humidity and a brief later-afternoon drizzle greeted attendees on Thursday, though heat indexes are slated to rise and make things less comfortable as the weekend progresses.
None of that is likely to deter resplendently adorned throngs carrying totems and goofy signs who reveled on Day 1 in sets by British singer HAYLA, French producer Justice, Brazil’s Vintage Culture and Netherlands-based Sara Landry.
Attendees traveled from North Carolina, Texas, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ontario, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Florida, South Dakota and beyond to bask in Electric Forest’s unique atmosphere while roaming the fetching art installations and festive crannies amid the woods of Sherwood Forest.
The Observatory: Drew big crowds all day inside Sherwood Forest. (Photo/John Sinkevics)
“It’s the best festival out there,” raved one Electric Forest devotee from Boston, who had plans for reveling in a late-night/early morning set from Sweden’s Liquid Stranger on the mammoth Sherwood Court stage.
Gleeful clusters of Foresters roamed from venue to venue (there are six main stages and several smaller ones), with many attendees dressed in their best escapist attire — glitzy to offbeat to comical — perhaps best described on a T-shirt spotted at the festival: “Not lost. Just side questing.”
One such side quest: Grand Rapids’ own Y-Not helped light the fuse on the 2025 edition of Electric Forest late Thursday afternoon on the cozy Grand Artique stage, displaying equal amounts of funk, rock and fun, but without massive doses of the electronic music wizardry that dominates this annual festival at Double JJ Resort.
Nevertheless, festivalgoers flocked to the side stage to dance and gyrate to the West Michigan ensemble’s infectious, saxophone-drenched milieu, even amid a short-lived passing shower. (Raindrops fell again around 11 p.m. and after midnight, but didn’t slow down the revelry.)
The group’s set on the Grand Artique Stage amid the festooned Sherwood Forest came just 90 minutes or so after another Michigan act, Dixon’s Violin, played his traditional festival-opening set on The Observatory stage — also offering a string-driven alternative to the bass-propelled romp of noted producers and DJs revving up throngs on Electric Forest’s biggest stages.
Y-Not: Had folks dancing (Photo/Eric Stoike)
But as often is the case at this acclaimed and singularly experiential festival, attendees welcomed both acts with jubilance, a dance-happy attitude and some of the same exuberance exhibited during the high-production, light-intensive spectacles that drew packed hordes at the much larger Ranch Arena, Sherwood Court and Tripolee stages later that night.
Non-EDM-styled revelry did rear its head elsewhere on occasion, with Los Angeles alt-rock/hip hop group Evening Elephants getting the Carousel Club lineup started with a high-energy attack, despite a brief equipment glitch involving the bassist.
Many fans responded just as energetically in front of the stage with lead singer Sam Boggs imploring them: “Let’s get f—ing weird.”
And Pennsylvania hip hop duo Joey Valence & Brae had an even bigger crowd partying in hearty fashion at Sherwood Court as more festivalgoers flooded the sprawling site in early evening.
But the wildest reactions clearly were reserved for buzzed-about electronic music stars such as British drum and bass DJ Culture Shock, aka James Pountney, who literally sent fans into a state of euphoria with his thunderous beats delivered from the Honeycomb stage. The same was true for late-night romps at Tripolee, with Lilly Palmer unleashing a particularly innovative, laser-enhanced performance at midnight.
And as one of Culture Shock’s crowd-pleasing tracks rightly proclaimed to launch the first night of Electric Forest’s mega-party: “The time is now.”
The festival continues today (June 20) through Sunday (June 22), with the likes of Tiesto, Louis the Child, Khruangbin, Zeds Dead, Fisher, Barry Can’t Swim, Wreckno and much more on tap. General admission day passes, $175, are still available online here. View Local Spins’ can’t miss picks and a users’ guide online here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Electric Forest Day 1
Photos by Eric Stoike and John Sinkevics
VIDEO: Electric Forest’s Opening Day (2025)
ELECTRIC FOREST: FRIDAY-SUNDAY SCHEDULES
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