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