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Electric Forest Festival 2013 - Ferris Wheel Views By Day

If you've ever driven through the states of Iowa and Nebraska on Highway 80, you can visualize the corn fields that seem to go endlessly in all directions. You can't help but be blown away by the immensity of it all. Driving through the general camping at a large outdoor music festival like Electric Forest has a similarly profound impact. The difference is that after five minutes of being awestruck by the amount of corn, you're bored as heck; whereas the scenery on a drive through EFF couldn't be more entertaining. Landscapes like these fill you with wonder about what the view is like from above. Lucky for those curious minds at Electric Forest, there is a super fun way to find out.

The Ferris Wheel towering above the main entrance is one carnival ride you'll never forget. The saying goes that 'A picture is worth a thousand words' which may be true, but it doesn't fully convey the powerful feelings that are experienced firsthand. You may enjoy, be impressed by, and even learn from the photos I've taken below but trust me, it's nothing like actually being there.

These photos are daytime views but sunset and night views are equally stunning. Keep in mind that they were taken on the first day - before ALL of the festival attendees had even arrived! If you weren't able to ride it this year, I would HIGHLY recommend you do it next year. The mass of organized chaos is a breathtaking sight and it's 100% worth it!

Inspirational Track: New World - Rise Above (Trance)
Listen on YouTube
Listen on Beatport

Thousands of Tents, Vehicles, and People

Security Check at Main Entrance

Arial View of Tripolee Stage

Electric Forest Festival 2013 - Finding Friends (Part 2) Totems & Flags

How to find friends in a crowd of tens of thousands??? In my last blog post I wrote about the mysterious force that amazingly draws you to your friends and helps you find them without even really trying. As neat as that is, you may not wish to leave finding your friends entirely in the hands of fate. In that case, groups of friends create totems, flags, signs, or markers to help them locate the rest of their clan in the massive sea of people. These crafty creations bring a whole new meaning to the phrase let your freak flag fly!

There are so many benefits to having these such as:

• No Need to Use Your Cell Phone - conserves your cell battery (so you can take more pictures/video), often you can't hear your phone or feel it vibrate in that environment, or it may already be dead.
• No Need to Strain Your Voice - either by calling out your friends names in the crowd or yelling into your cell phone - save your voice for letting the DJ know how you're feeling :)
• Become an Icon and Make New Friends - outsiders can appreciate your art and come over to chat with you about it.
• Make a Statement - Show your Chicago Blackhawks pride for their recent Stanley Cup win, express your undying love for Steve Carell, or simply prove how creative you are!
• Help Others - Festival-goers will use your totem as a way to find their friends to by saying something like, "I'm up to the right side of the stage, near that wicked foam dragon totem!"

So before you head off to your next outdoor music festival, consider getting together with your friends and creating your very own group totem. It will be a really fun, rewarding time in and of itself and will add so much to the festival experience overall. You'll be glad you did!

There were a lot of marvelous totems at Electric Forest Festival this year. I'm sure many factors were considered in the planning process like height, weight, cost, power supply, carrying method, etc. It was obvious that their creators devoted much time, energy, and money into making them and I give major props to these artists. They add so much character, color, and enchantment to the vast, crowded landscape. Well done and keep it up!

Inspirational Track: Hugo Gracowski - Totem (Original Mix) Genre: Minimal/Progressive House
Listen on SoudCloud
Listen on Beatport

Electric Dream Catcher Totem

Dancing Around Electric Jellyfish Totem

Electric Foam Dragon Totem

Sea of Totems, Flags, Signs, and Markers

Find Your Friends!

Rainbow Daisy Pinwheel, Inflatable Cactus Totem, Steve Carell Totem

Electric Forest Festival 2013 - Finding Friends (Part 1)

When you arrive at an outdoor music festival, setting up your campsite next to total strangers is a game of chance like drawing names out of a hat, and in this case, a hat that contains over 25,000 names in it. You really have no idea who your neighbors are going to be for the next four days. Are they going to be inclusive, enjoy the same music, be considerate, etc? There is no way of knowing until you've already set up camp and begun a dialogue with them. By then it may be too late - and who wants to tear everything down and move somewhere else??

I would venture to guess that the general mindset of the majority of people who attend these festivals is similar in that they just want to have a good time, no drama, feel peace, freedom, love, and so forth. I can safely say that there is a greater likelihood than not, that you'll enjoy the company of your neighbors. If not, perhaps your karma is trying to teach you something... :)

In my case, I couldn't have ended up with cooler neighbors. I mean it - these three guys are rad. We had great conversation, enjoyed listening to the same music, shared our supplies with each other, looked out for one another, and I trusted them completely. At first we were strangers, and by the end of the festival we were friends. I'm confident I'll keep in touch with them for a long time and I hope we'll meet up again at events in the future.

Another amazing experience is when you are at a festival with that many people and yet you somehow unexpectedly run into friends of yours that you know from back home. Like somehow, a couple of needles in a haystack should suddenly meet somewhere in the middle, just because they're both needles and that commonality is enough to bring them together. Even when finding people you planned to meet up with it was like, "I'll find you in The Forest." and by some magnetic, cosmic energy - you would!!!

So what started out as a solo mission for me, ended up as my having experienced a great feeling of companionship throughout the Festival. Thanks to all my friends there, both old and new, for adding so much more to that wonderful adventure. See you next time!

Inspirational Track:  GQMF -  Friend (Dubstep/Electro)

GQMF - Friend --- Listen to it on YouTube

GQMF - Friend --- Buy it on Beatport

Walking to main entrance

Having a refreshing brew

Time for the after-party!

Finding friends in the crowd