Probably the most beloved festivals of the 12 months, Electrical Forest, got here to a bittersweet finish final Monday. Tens of hundreds of exhausted however content material competition goers packed up their camps and headed house after 4 euphoric days within the Sherwood Forest of Rothbury, Michigan. After last year’s hiccups with the weather, Electrical Forest 2025 was almost excellent, with principally clear skies and sunshine, considerable surprises all through the weekend, and moments of pure, unadulterated pleasure round each nook.
There’s a palpable vitality one feels heading into Electrical Forest, that grows stronger and evolves as every day passes. A time period I like to make use of to explain this indescribable vitality is ‘collective effervescence,’ outlined because the shared pleasure, electrical energy, or unity felt amongst a crowd. At Electrical Forest, we now have all traveled lengthy and much for a similar factor, and we’re all now right here united in our shared love of music and this neighborhood. That feeling of collective electrical energy is ubiquitous at Electrical Forest, which is likely one of the many the explanation why this competition is so magical 12 months after 12 months. There’s simply nothing else prefer it.
Learn on for an in-depth evaluate of Electrical Forest 2025, full with my makes an attempt to articulate what’s in any other case inarticulable: the collective effervescence that permeated your complete weekend.
Day 1
Vibe Verify: Pleasure is at an all-time excessive upon listening to that first ‘completely satisfied forest’ greeting. You’ve arrange your camp and now it’s time to go into the forest. You’re buzzing to see what’s new this 12 months and simply to be again in your favourite place after months of planning and a 12 months of ready. It seems like there’s a lot to see and do, however you are feeling comfortable understanding you continue to have 4 full days to discover all of the forest has to supply.
Earlier than heading into the competition, it’s important to wander alongside Most important Avenue, positioned proper exterior the competition gates. Right here you possibly can eat (try Bangarang Asian Fusion), store, cling (take pleasure in arcade video games + loads of shaded seating), or cease in for one in every of many workshops and actions going down at The Brainery. In the present day’s Brainery schedule included workshops like Natural Tea Mixing, Narcan Coaching, and a Shuffle 101 class. We stayed for the very informative Narcan Coaching course, and got free Narcan to take with us.
We then ventured into the competition gates for the primary time in 2025. The competition is laid out the identical as in earlier years, with six foremost levels: Ranch Enviornment, Sherwood Court docket, Carousel Membership, The Honeycomb, The Observatory, and Grand Artique. Strolling from stage to stage and getting misplaced in Sherwood Forest, festival-goers can view interactive artwork installations, partake in a bevy of hidden actions, take pleasure in meals and drinks, calm down in hammocks, and a lot extra.
The Day 1 lineup featured artists like Dombresky, Mersiv (slowdown set + a daily set), Classic Tradition, Whethan, Justice, Lilly Palmer, Sara Landry, Disco Dom (Dombresky), Liquid Stranger and extra. A few of my private highlights of the evening embody Classic Tradition at Ranch Enviornment and Sub Focus at Sherwood Court docket.
We have been dying to go try the Dream Emporium, one in every of my favourite interactive experiences from final 12 months. A multi-sensory playground curated by visionary artists, the Dream Emporium options interactive installations, performers, and mind-bending artwork. It seems like a fever dream strolling from room to room, and this 12 months was no totally different. Within the span of 1 hour, we witnessed a full-blown wrestling match, ran ourselves by a human automotive wash, and noticed a dwell DJ carry out in the course of a skating rink.
Day 2
Vibe Verify: So that you awoke a bit of drained and with sore toes after strolling 10 miles yesterday, however do you care? Completely not. It’s solely Day 2, and it feels such as you nonetheless have limitless time to spend within the forest. In the present day is stuffed with pleasure, however a bit of extra relaxation as you’re studying the exhausting method after Day 1 to tempo your self. This implies extra sitting down on the grassy levels to relaxation your toes so you have got loads of vitality to bounce your little coronary heart out at that Honeycomb set later.
Lineup highlights as we speak embody Wreckno, Cloonee, Sunsquabi, Tiësto, Louis The Baby, and a BASSRUSH takeover at Tripolee with performances from AG, Eater, Jon Casey, AHEE, YDG, Wreckno, GorillaT, INFEKT, Ray Volpe, Crankdat, Tape B, and Worship.
A few of my private favorites as we speak have been Low Down Brass Band at The Observatory, Barry Can’t Swim at Ranch Enviornment, Mindchatter at Carousel Membership, and naturally Tape B at Tripolee. We additionally stumbled upon a shock home set from Of The Bushes at The Grand Artique stage as we speak; it was so enjoyable to see an artist of this caliber play at such an intimate stage. In between units we’d spend our time exploring the forest, encountering costumed actors, themed events at The Chapel (we walked in on Lia Reau main EDM Line Dance as we speak!), and hanging in one of many many hammocks hung up throughout the forest.
Day 3
Vibe Verify: You’re noticing an vitality shift as you enter the second half of the weekend. You’re nonetheless having a blast, however rising conscious that the top of the weekend is now in sight. Now’s the time to lastly go commerce your merchandise on the Buying and selling Put up, or go purchase a t-shirt from the merch store, however no worries, since you nonetheless have one other full day tomorrow!
Day 3 kicked off with extra Brainery workshop choices, together with yoga, vitality cleaning, a LGBTQ+ panel, and extra. The competition lineup was star-studded as we speak with performances from Mike Posner, The String Cheese Incident, Louis The Baby (Playground Set), bbno$, Levity b2b Crankdat b2b Tape B, Disclosure, and Zeds Lifeless. The crowds have been buzzing as we speak, each in palpable vitality and in sheer our bodies. It was clear who the headliners have been as artists like Zeds Lifeless packed the Ranch Enviornment. My private favorites of the day have been Arc de Soleil at Sherwood Court docket and Zeds Lifeless at Ranch. That epic b2b set was additionally quite a lot of enjoyable, and I want I had stayed for extra of it!
I’d even be remiss if I didn’t point out the Ocular Organ, a continued crowd favourite amongst forest attendees. We make some extent to spend a while right here yearly, watching gifted pianists spring up from the depths of the forest to blow the minds of the crowds amassing. It’s one of many forest’s many hidden gems.
Day 4
Vibe Verify: In the present day you’re feeling fortunately exhausted understanding you have got one full day left to expertise the forest magic. You’re additionally feeling some slight strain to do and see as a lot as you possibly can as we speak, understanding you received’t get one other probability till 2026. In the present day is the day to go get that pickle you’ve been wanting from the Pickle Cantina, to drop off some do-it-yourself trinkets at The Giving Tree, and to frolic as a lot as you possibly can amidst the timber, since this will probably be your final probability for some time.
They are saying everybody goes the toughest on Day 4, and that rang true as we speak. As drained as I’m certain each attendee was, we collectively pushed by to take pleasure in each final little bit of the forest as we speak. The lineup featured artists like Mochakk, extra units from Wreckno and The String Cheese Incident, Zingara, Khruangbin, Fisher, Of the Bushes, and extra.
The Grand Artique proved to be my favourite stage as we speak, with intimate vibes and the jam expertise I hoped for. We closed out the evening right here after stumbling on an unbelievable shock set from Noisemaker dub x Cam Steen. Put these up-and-comers in your radar if you happen to like experimental bass, trip-hop, dub, and dwell instrumentation. They pulled out every little thing from the flute, to the guitar, to the sax, to the handpan, and as if that wasn’t sufficient, they elevated the expertise with unimaginable dwell dance performances (@dsou1 & @amaracrevatin). We talked with Cam Steen after his set and he mentioned he and Noisemaker dub can be jamming out with Purple Large Mission on stage subsequent, so we stayed for that. There have been not less than six artists acting on stage for his or her set at any given time (+extra dancers), and it actually simply appeared like they have been all hanging out and jamming with their associates. It was a lot enjoyable and an ideal method to finish my Electrical Forest 2025 expertise, for all good issues should come to an finish.
It’s exhausting to sum up 4 days of magic in a single occasion evaluate, nevertheless it’s additionally fairly cathartic to replicate again on my weekend on this method. If you happen to’re like me, you’re nonetheless making an attempt to course of what you simply skilled as you proceed residing off that post-exertion euphoria. If there’s one factor you are taking away from the expertise let it’s this: the true magic of Electrical Forest lies in its neighborhood, within the unifying energy of collective effervescence.
