We’re two weeks out of Electric Forest 2015 and the time for reflection is upon us. After an experience like Forest we find ourselves with a kaleidoscope of profound emotions and thoughts that need to be processed and then applied to our every day lives. By this process of “taking something away from the Forest” we establish an opportunity to make Electric Forest not only a weekend of escape and fun, but also an experience that leaves a lasting impression on us all.
Through their tireless efforts, Electric Forest has fostered a community that can be seen and felt outside the grounds of the Double JJ Ranch.”Forest?!” is a question often asked to others who we saw last year and hope to see again. You can see people counting down the days on social media, or hear talk of it at every festival nationwide. Foresters have a palpable passion and love that most fests are unable to boast, another testament to the power of the experience.
One of our favorite aspects of Forest are the ideals thats are embraced throughout the fest. Stations like the “Reincarnation Village” or “The Giving Tree” filled with beautiful souls gushing love and warmth are rarely seen in the world outside Sherwood Forest.
Being surrounded by these positive vibrations makes the air thrum with more than just the bass coming from The Forest Stage. You leave feeling refreshed and in awe of the world around you. Hopefully the feelings and thoughts that you experienced while at EF this year stick with you and hold you over until at least next year, when you can come back to be reinvigorated with the indescribable sensations of driving in, walking through the gates, and finally into the trees.
After an experience like Electric Forest, most people leave having learned a lot about lives, friends, and themselves. I learned a lot, and like most good lessons, mine was a difficult one to process and puzzle out.
I left Rothbury this year feeling conflicted. Although there were great times had at Shpongle, ODESZA, Phantogram, and of course Nectar, I also experienced a lot of negativity. I worry that this might be specific to me, but after gauging the reaction from people in person and on social media, I feel my thoughts might resonate with some.
To start, the trash inside the venue and in the campgrounds was really bad. To EF’s credit they work very hard to keep the grounds clean each day with crews working overnight, and in the campgrounds with the Electricology program that rewards attendees with prizes in exchange for trash. Despite their efforts, Forest 2015 was one of the most trashed fests I’ve been to this festival season. This demonstrated a lack of respect towards the Ranch, the festival organizers, the Earth, and each other.
As with all fests, it usually takes people at least a day to settle in and this lack of respect was something that I felt grow over the course of the weekend. I felt the ideals that the Forest so painstakingly tries to emanate; those of love, freedom of expression, and loss of ego trampled on by people who were so clearly there just to party. I couldn’t help but overhear people saying things like, “Where’s MY beer” or “Get out of MY way, I need to see Bassnectar front row.”
While it was hard to see a place that I love so much being disrespected, Forest 2015 was not without it’s redeeming lesson that I’ve boiled down to “Being the Change.” While I saw a lot of actions by the community that I disliked, I don’t believe I did enough to change them.
I saw someone finish their slice of Spicy Pie and just drop their plate on the ground, ten feet from a garbage can. I struggled with myself about saying something and risking being “that guy” or just letting it go and trying to forget about it. Obviously that didn’t work because I’ve thought about that moment 100 times since Forest. I wish I had said something.
The only time over the course of the weekend I stepped up and said something was when people tried to push through a packed crowd who had spent over three hours waiting for Nectar. Maybe it was a combination of holding in a pee, my aching knees, and the obvious entitlement that those pushers felt that made me say “Hey, we’ve been waiting here for three hours, been waiting for this set for a year, if you think you’re getting past us with 10 minutes to go, you’re crazy.”
The most interesting part of stepping up and telling the pushers that they weren’t getting through wasn’t the fact that they turned around, it was the reaction from the people around me. After I “broke the glass” and told that first group off, people started coming together and deciding they had enough of the pushers too. All it took was one person saying, “Hey cut that out” (in a much nicer way) for the community to come together and decide they weren’t having any of it either.
I think that’s why I left Forest this year with a feeling of “I could’ve done more.” I keep replaying that moment where the girl dropped her plate on the ground and thinking, “What if I had said something to her? Could that have stopped someone who overheard from littering?” What if everyone had said something to someone who littered on day one? Could we have come together and stopped it before it got bad?
The experience at Forest this year was without a doubt enjoyable, but more than that it was a meaningful, learning experience that I can grow from. The lesson of “Being the Change” is something that I will take with me going forward in an effort to make the world, well, more like Electric Forest.
A huge and heartfelt thank you to Carrie, Helen, Alicia, and everyone at Madison House and Insomniac for having us at Electric Forest. It was an amazing weekend that we will never forget. Much love fam.
Connect with Electric Forest:
https://www.facebook.com/ElectricForest
https://twitter.com/Electric_Forest
https://instagram.com/electric_forest
http://www.electricforestfestival.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricForest
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