Attending Electric Forest for the second year, I didn’t know what to expect. Electric Forest stole my heart last year and I hoped that it wasn’t just beginner’s luck to be so in love with this festival. It wasn’t until I walked under those umbrellas I knew I made it home.
This festival is so special in so many ways. From the art installations, the people and the music that fills the forest you truly get to escape for the weekend that melts all your worries away. I was curious how this year would play out given the change from two weekends to one weekend and it being a sold-out festival.
Despite wait times for early arrival and getting into the gates day 1, the festival was just as perfect as I remembered it. With new designs for stages, new art installations that made you feel like you were more at home than ever before, Electric Forest took it up a notch this year. It was the perfect year to show my boyfriend Electric Forest for the first time. I think I fell in love with the forest all over again because it was his first time experiencing it.
Early Arrival
We decided to do early arrival because it gets you set up for the festival the night before making it easy to wake up and get ready for day 1 of the festival. We headed to the campgrounds around 3:30-4 pm and our whole process from the time we got in line at the north entrance until we got to our site was about an hour. By 7:30 pm, our whole campsite was set up and our group headed to the RVs to celebrate long hours of travel to get to Forest and we were finally home.
Camping
Camping this year went so smoothly for my group and I. We were near the bear in Camp Distortion and we had an easy walk to portapotties and showers and about a 15-minute walk to the gates which wasn’t bad at all.
Entering the Festival
It took a while on day 1 for us to enter the gates for about an hour, but I know others waited so much longer. Security was a little longer the first day, but after that things got way more relaxed. Once we were finally in we were able to get going and seeing what was new this year. On day 1, we bounced a lot back and forth between Ranch Arena and Tripolee so the rest of the days we were able to explore a lot more.
2019 Art Upgrades & Stages
I loved the new addition of art installations this year: the Wizard, the Electric Forest sign, the Sherwood Forest sign entrance into the forest from Ranch Arena, the entrance signs to the forest if you’re coming from Sherwood Court/Hangar area, and the amazing peacock near the wizard. All of it was absolutely incredible this year. I also think my favorite stage this year was Carousel Club the vibe in there was so groovy and great for the artists that played there. Tripolee also got a revamp this year and it was so beautiful the way it reflected during the day and then was lit up at night.
The Food
This year since I was attending with my boyfriend we ate so much amazing food. Last year I’d maybe eat once or twice in the gates, but this year I had two meals every day inside the festival and it was soooo good. Some highlights were stuffed pita over by Sherwood Court, an arepa from a food truck in Sherwood Court, Detroit Style Pizza in Ranch Arena and I finally got to try Asian Sensation Teriyaki Bowl which was amazing and well worth the wait.
The Music
Every artist I saw was amazing. Here were my top 3 acts:
- Omnom
- Gorgon City Live
- Zeds Dead
- Honorable Mentions: Odesza, Hannah Wants, Louis the Child Surprise Set
Overall Electric Forest this year was everything and more for me. It definitely solidified as my favorite festival and I hope I can attend for the rest of my life. Forest family is amazing, thank you to everyone who I met at Forest this year! I hope to see you in 2020 🙂
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