Summer is a time of the year when almost everyone has a reason to celebrate.  Students, and teachers are out of school, as well as many people with jobs are given time off.  There are all kinds of ways for people to spend their summers.  In recent decades, and more specifically recent years, some of the biggest types of summer events are music festivals.  Festivals are a way to not only have the chance to experience music from huge lineups of artists for multiple days, but also to connect with new people and have an unforgettable experience.

One of the biggest and most favored festivals of the summer is the camping festival Electric Forest.

Introduced by Insomniac and Madison House Presents, this event takes place in Sherwood Forest in Rothbury, Michigan. The festival presents mostly electronic dance music, but some indie and alternative artists as well, most notably The String Cheese Incident, who have headlined the festival every year since its creation.

While the festival has only been around since 2011, it gains more attention and attracts more people every year.  In 2014, the festival sold out a full month before its occurrence.  This may not seem like a very short time period to sell out considering tickets generally go on sale in December or January and in comparison to events like spring festival Coachella, which generally sells out in hours.  But the fact that it was only established a few years ago and still sells out a month early demonstrates its increasing rise in popularity as an event.

People who visit the festival end up having positive enough connotations with it that reattendance is a must.  “I remember…seeing the whole [parking] lot filled with forest [family]…people grilling, listening to music, hooping, meeting and greeting…so much positive energy from the get go,” states Spencer Lipo Zovic, a veteran attendee of Electric Forest.

The connections he made with people were immediate, and the festival brought a new sense of emotion to him.  “I remember setting up a big camp…with some friends and some strangers…and by the time we were set up there were no more strangers…I remember first walking into the forest at night and having tears well in my eyes because of how vibrant and full of life and love and lights it was.”

Electric Forest, just like any other festival, is not for everyone.  Many are critical of the artists who play, or state disapproval of the lineup. “There are some good names on the card, I’ll give it that, but a [lineup] consists of the whole card…you can’t look at one, two or maybe three [artists] and say the lineup is good…that’s just an ordinary show to me,” says an electronic dance music fan and member of the U.S. Army in response to the lineup for the event in 2015, which was released February 11th.

But people have much to say in response to critics.  “Being critical is the reason you should be going. You have no idea the journey these guys will take you on,” says another veteran attendee of the festival.  The quality of a lineup, however, is a matter of opinion.

Many festivals as of recent have been adding age restrictions.  In 2013, NYC festival Electric Zoo introduced an 18+ restriction, and in 2014 Ultra Music Festival in Miami stated their event would be 18+ starting in 2015.  These restrictions have been due to incidents that led to public backlash and calls for further safety measures.  However, to this day Electric Forest remains an all ages event, offering everyone the opportunity to experience it as long as they have the desire.

Electric Forest 2015 will be taking place from June 25th through June 28th.  Although artists will most likely not be performing till late afternoon or evening of the first day, attendees are welcome to enter at 10:00am on the 25th to set up their campsites.  Festival-goers must leave by 12:00pm on June 29th, but during the period they attend they can leave and return freely.

As of February 12th, 2015, tickets for Electric Forest have sold out.  Anyone still interested in attending must purchase resale tickets at their own risk.