After being staged over two weekends in recent years, the popular festival in Rothbury, will be held the last weekend in June only, with wristbands on sale in early December. One fan called it a “bummer.”
Lighting Up the Woods: Electric Forest will only do that over one weekend in 2019. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
After turning the uber-popular Electric Forest into a two-weekend, mega-festival the past two years, organizers today cited concerns for “conservation and longevity” in announcing that the acclaimed Rothbury music celebration would once again be held over a single weekend in 2019.
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Electric Forest 2019 will be staged on the grounds of Double JJ Resort in Rothbury June 27-30 with festival wristbands and lodging packages going on sale at noon Dec. 7.
In a prepared statement, the festival revealed that the grounds “will see many exciting improvements that include upgraded landscapes, areas with new grass and infrastructure improvements across the site. Most importantly, a new multi-year Sherwood Forest conservation plan will take effect.
Happy, Hippie Throngs: The crowd in 2018. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
“Protecting and curating the grounds of Electric Forest for generations to come is important to all of the Forest Family. The impact that comes with two weekends will need to be reduced for the new improvements to take hold.”
But the news wasn’t greeted enthusiastically by some concertgoers. “Bummer,” one fan groused on Facebook after the announcement was made. “Y’all just took a major step backwards in my mind,” wrote another.
A few complained about the festival’s “money grab” by staging two weekends the past two years, while many worried about a quick sellout of tickets for one weekend’s worth of music in 2019. “Now it’s just going to sell out so fast and people aren’t going to have the opportunity to go,” one commenter noted.
Still others debated the impact on the environment and the extent of cleanup required for two weekends’ worth of revelry versus one.
In Flight: An Electric Forester in 2018. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The 2019 lineup for Electric Forest hasn’t yet been announced but an initial roster of performers often gets revealed in late December or January.
Organizers also announced a new Electric Forest ticketing system will be implemented, requiring users to set up a ticketing account. Festivalgoers from previous years will receive an email “in the coming days” to assist them in setting up an account.
Last year, the second weekend – with what was considered a stronger lineup – proved to be more packed than Weekend One, though many happy revelers could be found attending both sessions. An estimated 30,000 or so attended the first weekend; 40,000-plus the second.
Check out Local Spins coverage of 2018 Electric Forest:
Electric Forest’s opening day sizzles with electronic trippiness, jam fervor, hippie vibe
Weekend 1 Revisited: An escape from reality, a splash of Michigan roots music
Electric Forest 2018: The magic, the music, the heat, the phenomenon revisited
Sherwood Forest (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
