Tucked away on a 2,000-acre ranch within the small Village of Rothbury, Michigan, lies one of many fashionable American pageant scene’s most profound music experiences, Electrical Forest.
Whether or not for its woodland maze of sunshine and shade, prolonged soundtrack of world-beating occasion music, or famend experiential artwork, the four-day tenting pageant has constructed a decade-old status because the gold commonplace for stateside digital exhibits, and the well-oiled machine behind it’s continuously resetting the bar for what a pageant could be within the scope of the U.S. reside occasions panorama.
Even earlier than we arrived at Rothbury’s Double JJ Resort for this yr’s thirteenth version, held from June 19-22, we had it teed up as an all-timer, that includes considered one of its most eclectic lineups in years and a lower than sold-out crowd positive to be delightfully spacious for these attending, bolstered by emotions of redemption after a weather-cancelation-laden 2024 version.
Now that our yearly time between the pines has come to an finish, we’re joyful to report on a largely straightforward, breezy, and exquisite weekend within the woods of western Michigan that we’ll be cherishing for a lifetime. Learn EDM Maniac’s full report on Electrical Forest 2025 under.
Vibes: ★★★★☆
Like magic, as quickly as we arrived on the pageant website—even in a torrential rainstorm within the pitch darkish hours of early Thursday morning—we felt relaxed and at house, reconnecting with long-distance pageant buddies from throughout the nation, and making loads of new ones too.
With long-standing roots within the Midwest jam group relationship again to its years as Rothbury Music Competition, however continuously evolving with the altering tides of EDM, Electrical Forest brings collectively heady hippies and hardcore ravers for a no-holds-barred long-weekend occasion, however at its core are the values of inclusivity and acceptance that make its disparate cohorts so particular, individually and collectively.
From returning attendees who’ve made the journey again upwards of six, seven, and eight occasions, to the handfuls of Forest first-timers simply starting their journey, attendees got here open and able to join with their fellow festivalgoers, and put additional particular care into the weekend, with hilarious and expertly crafted totems, small presents, sort phrases, and neighborly help.
Along with making for simpler navigation and extra room for dancing, this yr’s comparatively smaller crowds appeared all of the extra excited to be there for acts which have not often, if ever, featured within the Forest—and so they danced their hearts out accordingly. Excessive fives have been in abundance, and telephone use was stored to a minimal. In brief, it was the identical appeal we’ve come to know and love.
Although we discovered partygoers to be overwhelmingly respectful and accountable, people definitely occasion exhausting at Electrical Forest. It has been an all-ages occasion since its inception, and we’ve seen a variety of peer teams that replicate that by the years. Nonetheless, we have been persistently shocked on the variety of toddler kids we noticed at this yr’s pageant specifically, and seen a minimum of one child who appeared not more than 10 years previous, proper within the throes of Zeds Lifeless’s set at 3AM.
The exclusion of Electrical Forest’s well-known renegade afterparties at this yr’s version was a vital change after they attracted giant crowds that posed a security threat and led to early shutdowns in 2024, however we couldn’t assist however discover the way it modified the dynamic of the pageant.
Of their place, prolonged venue hours and staggered stage closing occasions made getting out and in a breeze. Nonetheless, we did miss the sensation of unity that comes with shuffling out of the venue en masse after the headliners and reuniting with misplaced buddies on our strategy to dawn.
Manufacturing ★★★★☆
Although it might not have the manufacturing assault of different mega-raves like Excision’s Misplaced Lands or EDC Las Vegas, Electrical Forest tailors its phases, lights, and lasers to enrich the pageant’s pure setting, leading to a very distinctive audiovisual expertise.
Rather than towering builds, hidden woodland phases and beautiful ambient lighting embedded into the foliage invite festivalgoers to work together with nature like nowhere else, whereas huge clearings speak in confidence to monolithic important phases, packing top-of-the-line spotlights, strobes, lasers, and pyro.
We delighted in returning to Ranch Enviornment for festival-classic units with artist-tailored manufacturing components, equivalent to Justice’s strobing reside present and Zeds Lifeless’s new album set. Elsewhere, anticipated DJ units and B2Bs at Sherwood Court docket and Tripolee have been met with commensurate pyrotechnics, whereas smaller phases, just like the Observatory, the Grand Artique, and Electrical Forest’s 360-degree Honeycomb, supplied a celebration oasis between the pines. Complaints about sound bleed and quantity have been minimal.
Past the usual run-of-show is the place Electrical Forest maybe shines brightest compared to its counterparts, because of the dense community of expertly lit artwork installations, secret treasures, chill zones, and reside performers that make the Sherwood Forest a residing, respiratory spectacle.
Music: ★★★★★
Coming in, we felt that Electrical Forest’s 2025 lineup was considered one of its deepest but, providing its trademark mix of EDM heavyweights, jam bands, and distinctive acts spanning indie, pop, different, and hip-hop, but additionally venturing additional afield into extra underground-leaning membership sounds from Europe, high-octane techno, and the easiest in drum & bass.
All weekend lengthy, we have been dazzled as each returning favorites and Forest debutants rose to the event. There have been merely no misses.
Thursday’s hands-down spotlight was a masterclass in sound and lightweight from French electro titans Justice, who unleashed their larger-than-life reside present one final time on U.S. soil earlier than the globetrotting spectacle heads again to Europe this fall. Late-night delights got here from Sara Landry’s headline redemption set, NOTION, and Liquid Stranger.
Insomniac’s Bassrush takeover at Tripolee on Friday was the place to be for bone-crushing bass from Jon Casey, YDG, Wreckno, GorillaT, INFEKT, Ray Volpe, Crankdat, and Tape B, forward of a scintillating headline from D&B supergroup WORSHIP (Sub Focus B2B Dimension B2B Tradition Shock B2B 1991), minimize ever-so-slightly brief resulting from approaching extreme climate.
Elsewhere across the grounds on Friday, we dove right into a multi-genre smorgasbord, that includes an intimate late-afternoon DJ set from famend San-Francisco-to-Berlin selector Avalon Emerson and a picturesque sundown reside present from Barry Can’t Swim, plus Cloonee’s gritty tech home, Tiësto’s new headline setup, and a monumental return efficiency from pageant favourite duo Louis The Little one.
We’ll die on this hill: there’s merely nothing like strolling round Ranch Enviornment whereas The String Cheese Incident is shredding on Saturday evening, and the jam legends delivered but once more with their annual “Shebang,” joined by Michigan native and chart-topping singer-songwriter Mike Posner, who performed an uplifting homecoming set earlier within the day.
Saturday continued with hotly tipped B2Bs from 33 Beneath B2B 1tbsp, Maz B2B Ahmed Spins, Avalon Emerson B2B Fcukers, Major Part B2B Interplanetary Legal, and Disclosure B2B Daphni, forward of Man Lawrence’s headline DJ set as Disclosure. Bassheads acquired their fill, too, with a shock B3B from surging dubsteppers Levity, Crankdat, and Tape B, capped off by a closing headline from style legends Zeds Lifeless, who showcased the brand new audiovisual present for his or her career-defining album, Return to the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness.
Because the solar set all too rapidly on Sunday evening, we savored our final moments within the Forest with half-time storage sensations Taiki Nulight and Hamdi, D&B remixer extraordinaire 1991, and the psychedelic acoustics of Khruangbin, earlier than burning it down with home heavyweights FISHER and Mochakk.
Within the first version in years with out Forest’s well-known renegade afterparties, we missed having the choice to increase our evening to dawn, however have been joyful to search out extra intimate afterparty vibes scattered across the campgrounds and join extra deeply with our fellow festivalgoers within the course of.
Most of all, after extreme climate canceled a lot of Electrical Forest’s 2024 programming, we have been thrilled to expertise the complete breadth of the pageant’s expertly curated music choices as soon as once more.
Venue: ★★★★☆
Electrical Forest’s expansive footprint on the positioning of Rothbury’s Double JJ Resort is an ideal match for the experiential behemoth the pageant has grown into over the past 13 years.
Snug sufficient for 50,000 attendees in sold-out years, the positioning is house to 3 open-air important phases, providing a large-scale pageant ambiance, whereas up-close musical performances, trippy artwork installations, immersive activations, and blissful chill zones are tucked away in Sherwood Forest, the dense stretch of practically 70-year-old lodgepole pine timber in its heart.
Undoubtedly Electrical Forest’s pièce de résistance, this shady retreat by day turns into a psychedelic wonderland of colourful lights and shapeshifting artwork items by evening, this yr accentuated additional by excessive winds zipping by the timber on Friday evening. Practically each sq. inch is washed in mild and shade and intentionally designed to spark curiosity. The most effective half is getting misplaced.
Increase that radius wider, and the positioning affords facilities equivalent to lakeside tenting, full energy RV hookups, entry to a close-by water park, and sufficient area to accommodate a myriad of activations. Amongst them: non-musical programming like panel discussions, arts and crafts, and weddings, in addition to Electrical Forest’s airplane-hanger-sized Dream Emporium, house to distinctive actions like curler skating, professional wrestling matches, and the pageant’s well-known scavenger hunt.
We didn’t encounter any main operational hiccups at Electrical Forest 2025. Medical companies have been straightforward to entry, and safety checks have been on par with what we’ve skilled at most legacy festivals, with metallic detectors and firearm Ok-9 items
Portapotties diversified in cleanliness, however have been as much as commonplace with what we count on at an occasion of this dimension. No horror tales this yr. All of the extra vital after heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday evening, organizers responded rapidly to dry out muddy areas with additional sand and soil.
Although intensely vibrant mild towers positioned all through the campgrounds illuminate open areas for around-the-clock arrivals, and are often passed by day three, we’ve been persistently delay by their near-blinding energy over the past two years.
Relating to pure magnificence, Electrical Forest’s venue maybe solely falls in need of the extra rustic and distant festivals we’ve attended, however its ease of entry makes it a gem to the Midwest pageant group. And although it’s extra bespoke artwork expertise than renegade rave, the considerably man-made marvel has an enthralling origin story all its personal.
Lodgepole pines aren’t native to western Michigan, and former Double JJ proprietor Wally Wojack planted this specific patch in an effort to repopulate decimated ranch land in 1955. With Wally’s blessing, over 50 years later, they proved an ideal match for the bold artwork of Electrical Forest. Evidently, the late pageant legend is essential to the pageant’s story and is honored with a plaque among the many timber at every version.
Meals & Beverage: ★★★☆☆
The foods and drinks choices at Electrical Forest have been as much as the usual we’ve come to count on from festivals of its stature. Choose choices—usually greasier fare—have been accessible 24 hours a day on important road within the GA campgrounds, whereas extra curated menus, starting from wine and cheese charcuterie and lobster grilled cheese to time-honored pageant traditions like rooster tenders and Island Noodles, have been discovered all through the venue.
The one lengthier waits we encountered have been for more healthy and allergy-friendly meals on the Well being Oasis meals distributors on important road. Bar strains remained brief, and, apart from dwindling beer varieties on the final day, well-stocked.
Frequent amongst main festivals lately, meals and beverage costs at Electrical Forest veered to the costlier facet of stadium fare, coming in at round $13 minimal for a large meal, between $15 and $18 for a 16-ounce beer, and over $20 minimal for blended drinks. Free water stations have been simply accessible, and canned water was bought for $2.
General: ★★★★☆
Electrical Forest 2025 efficiently redeemed any remaining woes from final yr’s weather-stricken occasion, assembly, if not exceeding, requirements set in earlier editions.
Again for a full-speed weekend with prolonged venue hours and a efficiency roster full of still-new musical frontiers for the 13-year-old pageant, this yr’s exhibiting supplied somewhat one thing for followers from practically each nook of the U.S. pageant scene. And for us, it’s that grand reunion of various partygoers and evening owls from throughout that makes Electrical Forest so particular.
Discover EDM Maniac‘s full Competition Report Card archive right here.