No more waiting 30 minutes to fill up your CamelBak. No more menacing walks through maze like crowds just to find your friends. No more camping out stages for hours to get a decent spot for headlining artists.
Electric Forest’s addition of a second weekend creates an uncanny festival experience: A music festival with all the outlandish amenities and production, without the big festival headaches from filing massive crowds into condensed areas.
But anyone seriously paying attention to the news surrounding Electric Forest’s first ever two-weekend event can see the second weekend’s ticket sales are falling sluggishly behind the first weekend’s almost immediate sell out.
Reddit users speculate the additional weekend will boast 40 percent the population of the first based solely on the app’s usage. On the same note, rumors of the production team giving out free tickets are also spreading on social media platforms.
With ticket sales slacking behind expectations, the extensive lineup boasting reputable DJs and jam bands from around the globe back up the festival’s rightfully acquired prestige. Notable artists exclusive to the second weekend include Nahko and The Medicine for the People, Flume, RL Grime, DJ Snake, Alison Wonderland, Cashmere Cat, and Thievery Corporation. The festival’s full lineup can be viewed here.
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Foremost, maintaining the conditions of the festival grounds and campsites for another four day weekend is an immediate concern.
After the first few days of weekend one, conditions throughout the festival grounds and the stages became extremely concerning. Due to weather conditions and large crowds, attendees fear the grounds of Electric Forest may not hold out for a second weekend, according to attendees on social media.
Electric Forest’s curated events allow artists, record labels and collaborators to take over the stage for a showcase of their diverse deejaying styles and genre specific sets. The events for the second weekend include performances curated by Oliver Helden’s Heldeep Records, the Australian Label Future Classic, Insomniac’s Bassrush, Crew Love and A-Trak’s Turntablist showcase.
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But, what draws festival goers to Michigan’s Sherwood Forest each year goes far beyond any lineup. Electric Forest has built its reputation around creating a community-driven atmosphere among its breathtaking LED filled trees, diverse stages and tasteful art installations. The experience of exploring the forest itself can be as memorable as any set of the weekend.
For many, Sherwood Forest feels more like a second home than other locations or venues. The combination of being surrounded by dense forest trees and the tradition of people cultivating at the nearby Double JJ Ranch for more than half a century gives the festival a familiarity and connection to the area.
As Cowboy Wally – a man who has called this special area home since 1950 – stated, the entire Sherwood Forest was planted in “two mornings many years ago,” and he never imagined those seeds would bring happiness to so many today.
Predominant festivals like Coachella have continued to successfully uphold an additional weekend with a similar lineup, and even make it look effortless. Event planner Insomniac’s decision to hold an additional weekend surely came as a surprise to many experienced attendees and does bring up some serious questions.
But, in a year filled with festival scandals and production companies going bankrupt, Electric Forest organizers still continue to aim to bring their already esteemed festival to unprecedented levels and seal their spot as the top festival experience in the Midwest.
