I Journeyed Back To Electric Forest This Weekend

So this past weekend, I got to go back to the legendary Electric Forest, and let me tell you, it was such a blast. I went back in 2013 and 2015 so it’s been a full 10 years since I’ve been back and I can’t say enough positive things about how much fun I had this weekend. All photos are credited to Alive Coverage/Electric Forest.

When we first rolled up, I was really surprised to see there wasn’t a car line because in years past, I’d had to wait for several hours to get into the venue, but there really wasn’t a line. Then, we started setting up and of course it started to rain so we took a quick break under the canopy and waited for it to slow down because it was down pouring for a while and then continued setting up camp. By this time, it had started to get dark so we decided we would grab some food in the venue.

Our first task was to find some food! I am super sensitive to gluten, so this posed a challenge for me to find food that I could eat. One thing I would like to see improved in future years is making sure there are more gluten-free options. It needs to be obvious that they’re gluten-free because there are so many hidden additives that can trick you very easily. I didn’t wanna take the risk and end up getting sick in the forest. I did find some gluten-free pizza that was actually very tasty. That was my go to all weekend because it was so good and it really wasn’t too badly priced because of how much you got. 

This year I had a handful of artists in mind that I wanted to see, but really didn’t pay any attention to the schedule and just let the Forest guide me into where I needed to be. I was with my buddy Andrew and he was kind of the same way, so we just vibed throughout the entire weekend finding cool sets. 

At some point, we ended up at The Observatory and I got to discover Morflo Family and that was something new for me. That was really cool to check out. Then we went over and checked out Sub Focus, who was absolutely phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sub Focus live so that was really cool for me to get to experience this.

At some point, it started to rain again but at this point, I didn’t really care anymore. My hair was already wet and I was vibing in the Forest. And let’s be honest, it isn’t a camping festival if it doesn’t rain, am I right?

Next, we went to check out AHEE and that was epic. My only complaint about that was The Grand Artique was way too small for his set so it was really packed. Thankfully, we found an upper area that you could hang out in and we had enough space to dance.

Next, we went to Sherwood Court and got to check out Mersiv. I’m a huge fan so this was a really good set for me to check out. My buddy had never heard of him before so it was a lot of fun for him too. Well, I really wanted to check out Liquid Stranger but at this point it was 2 AM. I knew that if I wanted to have a good day tomorrow, I needed to head to bed. I’ve seen him enough times and he’ll be at North Coast later this year so I’ll make sure to check him out there.

On day two, we spent a lot of time with our neighbors during the day. We were all chilling and hanging out together and that was really one of the best parts of the weekend. Everybody around us was so kind so generous. We all became Facebook friends, got each other‘s numbers and were together throughout the whole weekend . I have had good neighbors in past festivals but this year I felt truly blessed with the people who were next to me. (If you were one of my neighbors and you’re reading this, just know that you are awesome and I really enjoyed meeting you.) 

We went inside to find the media area and it was great to finally meet Caitlin, who I’ve been working with for several years. We sat and talked for a while and then we ended up getting the opportunity to do an interview. Cydnee with a C was super nice! That interview is linked here. Unfortunately, it’s not transcribed and you’ll find out why at the end of this article. Here is the interview!

We spent some time exploring the Forest and all the art installations that were there. I really wanted to go to the Dream Emporium, but it was getting kind of late and I wanted to eat dinner before we came back in. So we went back to camp, chilled with our neighbors for a bit, and then came right back into the venue. We brought them with us, but ended up losing them shortly after getting back into the venue.

I got to catch the tail end of Cydnee with a C’s set and then went on to explore before hitting up Ray Volpe! I really like Ray, and so it was neat to see him. We chilled in some hammocks for a bit. Then, we went and checked out Crankdat for a little while and finally I finished out the night with Tiësto. I was bummed about missing Tape B but again, it was getting late and I was super tired by this point.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I really wish that Electric Forest would play some of the headliners a little earlier and then still keep the vibe going with some of the smaller artists afterwards. This is similar to what Summer Camp used to do. They would usually have their main stage artist end by like midnight or one, and then we would go and see some smaller artists which was great because you could find all kinds of new things. 

I was so happy that Electric Forest took the time to let us know that the winds were going to be high because Friday night we took time making sure the campsite was secure before the night got too late. Good thing we did because it was really windy all day Saturday. It was really great that they took the time to warn us. Otherwise, I think there would’ve been a lot more damage done to canopies and cars, so kudos to the team for making sure everyone was aware. There were announcements over a loudspeaker and the app let us know as well.

Saturday sure was windy. We spent a lot of time with our neighbors again during the day until the venue opened up. We went to explore and spend some time checking out everything there was to offer. We also handed out lots of The Festival Voice merch and we got a lot of cool trinkets in return. That’s something I really like about festivals. People take the time to get these little trinkets and give them out so that everybody has a good time. 

We went to the media area and chilled for a while. Then we checked out some Saxsquatch, which was super neat. He was such a vibe. Next up, we checked out some String Cheese. I mean, you gotta check out Cheese if you’re gonna go to Forest, then we ran back to go eat again and I took a quick nap before heading back out later that night.

I went in with my neighbors, but lost them after a little while. This was pretty unfortunate so I was by myself for the rest of the night but honestly, I can’t really complain. I’ve never done a festival by myself before so it was great that other groups adapted me into them. They made sure I had water and took care of me. That’s one thing that makes festivals really special. People care so much about other people and since I was alone, I just got adopted into a new group.

And OMG. That Levity b2b Crankdat b2b Tape B??? Like what even was that???? It was phenomenal and I have to say it was my favorite set of the entire weekend. I was raging so hard with my new friends and it was beyond what I expected.

Finally, Sunday was such a chill vibe again we spent plenty of time with the neighbors before handing out merch and going to explore the festival. I had the opportunity to interview Kyle Hollingsworth of The String Cheese Incident. Check that interview out here.

After that, we went to check out the Dream Emporium finally. I was so impressed with everything that I saw. You will have to check out my real to see some of the cool things that I found. Every room was so expertly designed.

Here is where my night went sour. I decided to go rollerskating while in the Dream Emporium. Yeah, that wasn’t a good idea for someone like me. I fell and ended up fracturing my wrist and it’s still super swollen. In fact, I’m doing this article through voice text and then editing it because my right hand is the one that isn’t working right. Thankfully, medical was really great and took care of me. They put me in brace and made sure I had plenty of ice. I could go back to medical anytime I wanted or needed to get more ice. At that point it really didn’t hurt that bad so I continued my night although I did miss out on several things in the Dream Emporium because of that.

We got to check out some Zingara and then I wandered into the forest to do some more exploring. I don’t remember what time it was, so I’m not sure who I caught, but somebody at The Observatory was epic. I was trying to look and see who that was, maybe 1991 maybe Taiku Nulight, but I honestly wasn’t paying attention to the time so I cannot say who that was but it was awesome.

We stopped for some Mochakk before heading into bed. Thankfully, we had packed up a lot of our gear that night so we didn’t have to worry about all of it in the morning. This was a really good thing because my wrist was not hurting on Sunday night but on Monday morning, it was awful.  I had trouble sleeping so we got up at six, finished packing up and got out with no problems.

Overall, I’m so glad I got to go back and experience the Forest. I had epic vibes from everybody I met, my neighbors were excellent, and I think it was a great decision to kind of go with the flow rather than be focused on a schedule because I discovered some really great new artists. I found some really neat stuff in the forest and I will definitely be going back at some point.