One of the most beloved festivals of the year, Electric Forest, came to a bittersweet end last Monday. Tens of thousands of exhausted but content festival goers packed up their camps and headed home after four euphoric days in the Sherwood Forest of Rothbury, Michigan. After last year’s hiccups with the weather, Electric Forest 2025 was nearly perfect, with mostly clear skies and sunshine, abundant surprises throughout the weekend, and moments of pure, unadulterated joy around every corner. There is a palpable energy one feels heading into Electric Forest, that grows stronger and evolves as each day passes. A term I like to use to describe this indescribable energy is ‘collective effervescence,’ defined as the shared excitement, electricity, or unity felt among a crowd. At Electric Forest, we have all traveled long and far for the same thing, and we are all now here united in our shared love of music and this community. That feeling of collective electricity is ubiquitous at Electric Forest, which is one of the many reasons why this festival is so magical year after year. There’s just nothing else like it. Read on for an in-depth review of Electric Forest 2025, complete with my attempts to articulate what is otherwise inarticulable: the collective effervescence that permeated the entire weekend. Vibe Check: Excitement is at an all-time high upon hearing that first ‘happy forest’ greeting. You’ve set up your camp and now it’s time to head into the forest. You’re buzzing to see what’s new this year and just to be back in your favorite place after months of planning and a year of waiting. It feels like there’s so much to see and do, but you feel at ease knowing you still have four full days to explore all the forest has to offer. Before heading into the festival, it’s essential to wander along Main Street, located right outside the festival gates. Here you can eat (check out Bangarang Asian Fusion), shop, hang (enjoy arcade games + plenty of shaded seating), or stop in for one of many workshops and activities taking place at The Brainery. Today’s Brainery schedule included workshops like Herbal Tea Mixing, Narcan Training, and a Shuffle 101 class. We stayed for the very informative Narcan Training course, and were given free Narcan to take with us. We then ventured into the festival gates for the first time in 2025. The festival is laid out the same as in previous years, with six main stages: Ranch Arena, Sherwood Court, Carousel Club, The Honeycomb, The Observatory, and Grand Artique. Walking from stage to stage and getting lost in Sherwood Forest, festival-goers can view interactive art installations, partake in a bevy of hidden activities, enjoy food and beverages, relax in hammocks, and so much more. The Day 1 lineup featured artists like Dombresky, Mersiv (slowdown set + a regular set), Vintage Culture, Whethan, Justice, Lilly Palmer, Sara Landry, Disco Dom (Dombresky), Liquid Stranger and more. Some of my personal highlights of the night include Vintage Culture at Ranch Arena and Sub Focus at Sherwood Court. We were dying to go check out the Dream Emporium, one of my favorite interactive experiences from last year. A multi-sensory playground curated by visionary artists, the Dream Emporium features interactive installations, performers, and mind-bending art. It feels like a fever dream walking from room to room, and this year was no different. In the span of one hour, we witnessed a full-blown wrestling match, ran ourselves through a human car wash, and saw a live DJ perform in the middle of a skating rink. Vibe Check: So you woke up a little tired and with sore feet after walking 10 miles yesterday, but do you care? Absolutely not. It’s only Day 2, and it feels like you still have endless time to spend in the forest. Today is full of excitement, but a little more rest as you’re learning the hard way after Day 1 to pace yourself. This means more sitting down at the grassy stages to rest your feet so you have plenty of energy to dance your little heart out at that Honeycomb set later. Lineup highlights today include Wreckno, Cloonee, Sunsquabi, Tiësto, Louis The Child, 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. Some of my personal favorites today were Low Down Brass Band at The Observatory, Barry Can’t Swim at Ranch Arena, Mindchatter at Carousel Club, and of course Tape B at Tripolee. We also stumbled upon a surprise house set from Of The Trees at The Grand Artique stage today; it was so fun to see an artist of this caliber play at such an intimate stage. In between sets we’d spend our time exploring the forest, encountering costumed actors, themed parties at The Chapel (we walked in on Lia Reau leading EDM Line Dance today!), and hanging in one of the many hammocks hung up across the forest. Vibe Check: You’re noticing an energy shift as you enter the second half of the weekend. You’re still having a blast, but growing aware that the end of the weekend is now in sight. Now is the time to finally go trade your item at the Trading Post, or go buy a t-shirt from the merch shop, but no worries, because you still have another full day tomorrow! Day 3 kicked off with more Brainery workshop offerings, including yoga, energy cleansing, a LGBTQ+ panel, and more. The festival lineup was star-studded today with performances from Mike Posner, The String Cheese Incident, Louis The Child (Playground Set), bbno$, Levity b2b Crankdat b2b Tape B, Disclosure, and Zeds Dead. The crowds were buzzing today, both in palpable energy and in sheer bodies. It was clear who the headliners were as artists like Zeds Dead packed the Ranch Arena. My personal favorites of the day were Arc de Soleil at Sherwood Court and Zeds Dead at Ranch. That epic b2b set was also a lot of fun, and I wish I had stayed for more of it! I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the Ocular Organ, a continued crowd favorite among forest attendees. We make a point to spend some time here every year, watching talented pianists spring up from the depths of the forest to blow the minds of the crowds amassing. It’s one of the forest’s many hidden gems. Vibe Check: Today you’re feeling happily exhausted knowing you have one full day left to experience the forest magic. You’re also feeling some slight pressure to do and see as much as you can today, knowing you won’t get another chance until 2026. Today is the day to go get that pickle you’ve been wanting from the Pickle Cantina, to drop off some homemade trinkets at The Giving Tree, and to frolic as much as you can amidst the trees, since this will be your last chance for a while. They say everyone goes the hardest on Day 4, and that rang true today. As tired as I’m sure every attendee was, we collectively pushed through to enjoy every last bit of the forest today. The lineup featured artists like Mochakk, additional sets from Wreckno and The String Cheese Incident, Zingara, Khruangbin, Fisher, Of the Trees, and more. The Grand Artique proved to be my favorite stage today, with intimate vibes and the jam experience I was hoping for. We closed out the night here after stumbling on an unbelievable surprise set from Noisemaker dub x Cam Steen. Put these up-and-comers on your radar if you like experimental bass, trip-hop, dub, and live instrumentation. They pulled out everything from the flute, to the guitar, to the sax, to the handpan, and as if that wasn’t enough, they elevated the experience with incredible live dance performances (@dsou1 & @amaracrevatin). We talked with Cam Steen after his set and he said he and Noisemaker dub would be jamming out with Red Giant Project on stage next, so we stayed for that. There were at least six artists performing on stage for their set at any given time (+more dancers), and it really just seemed like they were all hanging out and jamming with their friends. It was so much fun and a perfect way to end my Electric Forest 2025 experience, for all good things must come to an end. It’s hard to sum up four days of magic in one event review, but it’s also quite cathartic to reflect back on my weekend in this way. If you’re like me, you’re still trying to process what you just experienced as you continue living off that post-exertion euphoria. If there’s one thing you take away from the experience let it be this: the true magic of Electric Forest lies in its community, in the unifying power of collective effervescence.[Event Review] Experiencing Collective Effervescence At Electric Forest 2025
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
