For the 7th year, Electric Forest welcomed over 40,000 attendees to Rothbury, Michigan. As a first timer of the festival, nothing could every compare to the experience I had throughout four days lost in the forest. From the moment you entered the festival, the energy from everyone fueled you with excitement. Take a peek of the festival grounds while watching Electric Forest’s 2017 thank you video.
Here is what Insomniac’s Founder, Pasquale Rotella, mentions about weekend 1:
The first weekend of Electric Forest was an unbelievably beautiful experience. We spent four days exploring the forest with thousands of inspiring fans and it was amazing to see such a diverse community come together to create art, appreciate all kinds of music, and transform the unique campgrounds into their temporary home. With so many first-time special sets across seven stages, and vibes that continued until the sunrise in the forest.
Queue the chills as you view memorable Electric Forest photos from Weekend One while listening to Insomniac’s festival playlist.
Every corner you turned to, there was something new created by artistic hands. The massive structures that stretched toward the skies made my jaw drop slowly.
Not only did the artists provide the creativity, but everyone did their part to shine colorfully.
I have never attended a festival that had this amount of live sets. Every performer brought out their instruments to give us the most rawest and flawless, yet astounding performances!
I was impressed with every kind of set I stumbled upon as each one was exceeding my expectations.
The magic that appeared throughout the weekend included a proposal during Jai Wolf‘s set, String Cheese Incident performing a five hour set with special guests Kamasi Washington, Matisyahu, Matt Hill of the Floozies, Break Science, Brazilian Girls, Liquid Stranger, and Eric Krasno, Odesza filling up Sherwood Court Stage and back to back sets from Space Jesus and Liquid Stranger.
As we walked through Sherwood Forest there was a whole other world. There were marriages held in the chapel where you could find yourself also getting a drag queen makeover. The Reincarnation Village held meet and greets, self healing talks and interactive live drum jams.
Beyond the forest, to the other side, stood The Hanger. The Hanger was an interactive place to partake in bowling, get a nice haircut and sit in for a burlesque performance. Lastly, every morning yoga was held at Tripolee Stage to stretch out those muscles from a nightlong filled of dancing.
With the light rain Thursday night also came a shower of love shared all around the forest.
Multiple marriage proposals and weddings were held throughout the weekend between couples. But not only couple love existed, but new friendships were formed, old friends reunited and group hugs shared numerously.
From the campgrounds, when camping neighbors shared food, and essentials to the forest to jumping into dance groups, the vibes of the festival were strong and positively beautiful.
One new aspect of the festival this year was the Her Forest workshop, which was designed to help the sisters of the forest bond.
Enjoy a short video on the Her Forest program below:
We hope you enjoyed our exclusive Electric Forest photos, we will see you next year.
