Two weekends a year, beautiful souls from across the United States gather together to celebrate the beauty of the Electric Forest Festival in Rothbury, Michigan.

This festival is famous for integrating art and music together to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience. From Marshmello to Jauz to the String Cheese Incident, the musical lineup is extremely diverse, uniting fans of all types of genres together. 

Whether it’s your first Forest Experience or your sixth, check out these useful tips that you'll need to thrive in the Forest this summer.

Get an Early Arrival Pass

Just like any other camping festival, plan to arrive early! Electric Forest even offers Wednesday early arrival passes, and I highly recommend purchasing one. Arriving on Wednesday will not only ensure you won’t be stuck in any festival traffic but also gives you a whole extra day in the Forest. Take the time to set up camp, meet your neighbors, and get to know your surroundings. If you can’t arrive on Wednesday, the campground gates will be open 24/7 starting Thursday at 12 AM.

Check Out the Water Park

This is something I didn’t do last year that I immensely regret. While there isn’t an actual water park in the campgrounds, Electric Forest does offer shuttles to the nearby Gold Rush Water Park. Tickets to the water park are $20 per visit and there will be shuttles leaving on regular intervals between 10 AM-6 PM. Pro tip: the water park has showers (which are included in the price of your admission) so take advantage of them!

Bring Extra Layers

The weather at Forest ranges from the 90’s during the day to the 40’s at night. The temperature change will be felt immediately after the sun goes down. Personally, I like to plan two outfits per day (one for during the day and one at night). It can be hard to stand out in the crowd when it’s cold - but cute jackets like this Shagedlic Fur Coat and this Purrfect Faux Fur Coat from iHeartRaves make it easy. Check out their outerwear section for more outfit inspiration! 

Be Prepared for Rain

Come prepared for all types of unfavorable weather conditions! Last year it rained the first few days of the festival and my camping group was incredibly unprepared. Learn from our mistakes and bring rain ponchos, rain boots, a canopy, and plenty of extra tarps for your campsite! 

Explore the Forest

I can’t stress this enough; make sure to set aside some time to explore the Forest! Check out the art installations, the silent disco, and even try to take a whack at the scavenger hunt they put on every year. There’s even a giving tree in the Forest (where people leave/take gifts), so make sure to bring a gift! And don’t just explore during the day, the forest is even more magical at night!

Have No Expectations

Whether it’s your first forest or your sixth, go in each year with no expectations. Forget anything you might’ve heard about the forest or the pictures you’ve seen. Nothing will do it justice until you see it for yourself. Soak up everything you can while you’re there, try new things, explore unknown artists, and have the time of your life.

Electric Forest is by far one of my favorite festivals and you can catch me there for weekend 2! Plan your forest adventure and grab your 2018 Electric Forest Tickets here.