One thing you can’t say yet about the Electric Forest Festival is that it’s been happening for decades and longer, but what you can say is that it’s nothing short of impressive. This 4-day festival is held over a single weekend in Rothbury, Michigan and is at this moment in full swing as it runs from June 27th to the 30th, lighting it up and entertaining all those that manage to make their way to Michigan in an effort to fully enjoy the sights and sounds of this magnificent display. In 2008 it was known as the Rothbury Music Festival, a name that followed it into 2009 as well. The festival almost didn’t happen in 2009 however since ownership of the land being used was under dispute. Eventually things did get sorted out and the festival continued, though in 2010 it didn’t manage to return since the event couldn’t procure the same level or amount of talent that it had seen in the previous two years. This might seem like kind of a lame reason not to hold the festival but at the same time the city wanted to make certain that they were keeping to their high standards and thus didn’t hold the festival, apologizing profusely to those that were looking forward to the event. They did promise to be back in 2011 however, and they kept that promise as it returned the following year. This time however, the name had been changed, and the Rothbury Music Festival became the Electric Forest Festival, a name that has stuck ever since and become a true delight for the eyes and ears of those that attend.
Throughout the years the talent pool for this festival has been nothing but impressive as the event has pooled together talented bands and musicians that are both quite famous and largely unknown to contribute to the overall enjoyment of the attendees. In 2014 it sold out for the first time as enough people gathered to enjoy the continuous and impressive sights that the city continued pulling in. In 2017 the festival was held over two weekends back to back, though this practice was abandoned shortly after and has gone back to holding the event over one weekend instead. Despite the money the event brings in it does seem as though the effort to make it happen is quite a drain on the city and could be a lot of work to set up, maintain, and then clean up by the end. Regardless of the fun that people have, and there’s a great deal of it to be had in fact, the stark truth of any festival is that the gathering of so many people is bound to trash the area in which they congregate. Some folks seek to preserve the integrity of their surroundings, but where music, alcohol, possibly other substances, and great numbers of people are involved, there’s bound to be a mess.
The experience though is so unlike many others that one can’t help but think that this would be one of the best ways to spend at least one of their weekends during the summer, outside in the open air listening to great music and being dazzled by their surroundings as the entire forest around them seems to light up with every color of the rainbow while they get to simply enjoy it all. This is a big part of what the summer is all about after all, cutting loose and really enjoying yourself in order to understand at least in part what life is all about. As Sierra Vandervort of River Beats writes, this festival is about more than just the music. It’s about the community that gathered together to bring something to the people that could help unite them and create an era of enlightenment that all who attend can feel. In essence it’s a reason for the community to pull together, or one of them at least.
It goes without saying, though Jessica R. of That Drop says it quite well, that the festival might not exist without the ranch that it takes place on, an impressive site just 9 miles from Lake Michigan that was planted in 1955 by Wally Wojack, who never dreamed that the ranch would eventually become this well-known. Since that time however, and well after he renamed it the Double JJ Resort, the ranch has become the staging ground for an event that many people know about and have come to fully enjoy throughout the years, and many more are still being turned onto as the years continue to roll on. Decades ago such a festival wouldn’t have been thought to be much more than a nuisance likely, but as the time has passed the potential for bringing people together has been the driving force behind such festivals, and the Electric Forest Festival has become one of the greatest gatherings in Michigan’s history.
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