music festival – Vinyl Mag

There is really no other way to put it…every return to Electric Forest feels like coming home. The Forest is a place where attendees come to be themselves, leave the outside world for a couple of days, become part of a family and be free.

In its fifth year known as Electric Forest, the festival set out to make 2015 its biggest year yet. With a venue expansion and a noticeable increase in capacity, the demand for admittance into these hallowed festival grounds was immense with an estimated attendance of over 45,000, compared to that of 35,000 in 2014. While the overcrowding, overlooked camping logistics, and other issues of the weekend created somewhat of a challenge to many, Electric Forest was still “home” and we were able to share four magical days with our Forest Family.

No two experiences at Electric Forest are a like. Each person comes to the Forest with varying expectations, seeking different experiences, and ultimately walking away with memories of a weekend that was unique to them. Days after we have departed the Double J Ranch, leaving our friends and just our footprints, we are still taking in every aspect of our Forest adventure.

While we could talk about Electric Forest for days, it still wouldn’t be enough to fully describe our festival experience. We may only be scratching the surface here, but we’ve comprised a list of Vinyl Mag’s favorite Electric Forest moments of 2015.

Unexpected Collaborations: Friday night near the close of The String Cheese Incident’s second set, we received a Snapchat of Skrillex (Sonny Moore) backstage at the Ranch Arena with guitar in hand. Could it be true? Was Skrillex going to come out with Cheese and not womp-out on a collaboration? Sure enough, encore time comes and Moore walks out on stage with that guitar and Cheese begins to jam out to The Doors’ “Break On Through.” The song feeds into “L.A Woman” where Moore shares vocals with Bill Nershi (SCI) and then rounding back out again into “Break On Through.” Are we really surprised about the song selection? Not really, considering Moore worked with the remaining members of The Doors on a collaboration project and documentary called Re:Generation. We were surprisingly impressed at witnessing Moore’s musical talents and grateful for his thank-you shoutout at the end of the performance, thanking everyone from the fans, to The String Cheese Incident, to security, and even the people who clean the bathrooms.

While there were other collaborations like Dominic Lalli of Big Gigantic playing sax with Cheese on Sunday, Macy Gray fronting Galactic, Michael Kang sitting in with Bassnectar for “Dubuasca,” and Big Gigantic raging with Cherub during a surprise sunrise set ontop of an RV in GA Camping, Skrillex busting out a guitar and jamming out with Cheese was definitely our favorite collaboration of the weekend.

The Forest: One of the best pastimes of Electric Forest is wandering and getting lost within Sherwood Forest. In it’s own right, the Forest is a festival headliner. Whether day or night, the Forest provides hidden treasures and experiences at every turn. As the festival grew in attendance and size this year, along with it grew Sherwood Forest. The Forest’s expansion created more secret spaces and surprises to discover. While wandering around the general store, we stumbled upon a small mailbox that was simply placed outside of the rustic structure. Next to letterbox was a bunch of blank postcards inviting attendees to write a message to their future selves. Electric Forest would provide the postage and after placing the postcard in the Forest Mailbox your future self would receive your message someday. This was just one of the many things we happened upon in the Forest that made us smile.

Hammock Zones: If you have attended Electric Forest in past years, especially in 2014, you know just how crowded Sherwood Forest became with hammocks; so much so it became almost impossible to navigate through the Forest at times. This year EF Headquarters implemented a roll out of Hammock Etiquette and Hammock Zones. While this was met with some grumblings, during the festival majority of people seemed to respect the new guidelines. EF Headquarters continued to stress that Hammocks are part of the soul of Electric Forest, and they are not going away. This new plan for 2015 was to create Hammock Zones in restful areas to help solve traffic problems, and to give some of the beloved pines in Sherwood a chance to rest. From what we saw, these zones did in fact help with traffic issues, but still allowed for hammocks to be a major part of festival.

The Hanger: The Hanger is one of our absolute favorite additions to the Forest. The Hanger, resembling a 1940s aircraft hanger, became a place to take a break from the rest of the festival, enjoy a quality cocktail (I mean, Moscow Mules with Titos, who knew that was our favorite?), and interact with a variety of characters who were keeping up with the 1940s theme.

In addition to a main craft beer and cocktail bar and a main stage area, The Hanger was home to a massage lounge with a 40s mechanic theme where you could get “buffed out” by pin-up girls, an actual barber shop, tattoo parlor (fake tattoos of course), a cuban style bar/lounge and many more surprises. Professional dancers, Cigarette Girls and Candy Dolls walking around with neck strap trays, and stilt walkers were all seen under the massive vaulted ceiling of The Hanger throughout the weekend.

From The String Cheese Incident’s infamous Saturday set, to exhilarating covers by various artists, to the mystical Tripolee stage, to Bluegrass Sunday, to the new circus tent that is Jubilee…the list of unforgettable moments and sights at Electric Forest 2015 is endless. Once again, Vinyl Mag is so grateful to have been a part of such a magical weekend.

Nestled along the Connecticut shoreline, surrounded by historic Bridgeport, lies 325 acres of lush stretches of lawn, towering trees, beautiful beaches and spectacular views of Long Island Sound. Not only is Seaside Park a summer destination for beachgoers, it is also home to Gathering of the Vibes.

In its twentieth year, Gathering of the Vibes will return to Seaside Park this summer (July 30-August 2) and celebrate this momentous year with a lineup that includes the likes of Wilco, The String Cheese Incident, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Weezer, Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, and many many others.

While the festival boasts a stellar lineup year after year, the true headliner of the weekend is Seaside Park. There are not many festivals where your campsite is situated in a beautiful park along a waterfront. While the park makes for an incredible backdrop, festival attendees also must take extra care of the environment around them.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), trash and litter along our coasts and in our waterways can be harmful to our health, the environment, and the economy. Most marine debris that ends up in the water is man-made and begins its journey on land; this is trash that is not recycled or properly thrown away on land. For example, litter left behind by festival goers at Gathering of the Vibes could be picked up by the wind or washed out by rain and end up in the ocean. Any debris that finds its way into coastal waters not only affects the appearance of the surrounding waters, but also has potential to harm many kinds of animals and wreak havoc on the ecosystem.

As the festival has grown over the years, so has the consciousness of festival sustainability and the local marine ecosystem. We chatted with Harry Moran, Sustainability Director for Gathering of the Vibes, to talk about Vibes’ green initiative, Green Vibes, the festival’s annual beach cleanup, and tips for helping keep the festival eco-friendly.

“With my passion for sustainability, I’ve always been thinking about ways to minimize our onsite footprint and harness the power of our community for positive change,” said Moran as he talked about the creation of Green Vibes. “The event has always had a very real commitment to this but with the ongoing support of Ken Hays [Founder of Gathering of the Vibes], I was able to put together a dedicated Sustainability and Outreach program to coordinate and expand all of the different components.”

The goals of Green Vibes are simple: reduce negative human impact on the ecosystems and encourage responsible stewardship toward the land, air, sea, and renewable energy resources. Green Vibes looks to harness the power of our musical community and the Vibes family and transform the world by going beyond “leaving nothing but footprints.”

Each year, with the help of the Green Vibes program Vibes makes further strides towards reducing their eco-footprint at Seaside Park.

“After every year, I do a recap to see what’s working, what can be improved and identify new ideas for the following year,” Moran stated. “We’ve been at this a long time now but there’s always room to improve. One of our successful additions to our awareness and outreach work is the brief talks related to sustainability between bands on the Green Vibes Stage. We’ve had major experts come in and share ideas in a really loose and fun setting which really engages and energizes the crowd.”

Other notable successes of the green program include:

22,000 pounds of recycling was gathered and kept out of landfills.
12,516 lbs of non-perishable food,hygiene goods, and clothing was donated to local food banks, including vendor donations of unused food to local food banks and soup kitchens.
The Green Vibes Carbon Cutters, Green Vibes’ carbon reduction team, is now almost 900 members strong and has prevented close to 2 tons of CO2 from going into the atmosphere.
Food and beverage vendors used compostable products.
Environmental & social action awareness opportunities for attendees through Green Vibes Stage workshops.
Activation of a solar-powered cell phone charging station.

While 2014 was an extremely successful year, Green Vibes is already looking towards 2015 and hopes to have the cleanest and greenest Vibest yet. The program will continue to focus on reducing the festival’s carbon footprint and will be expanding the recycling program. For the sixth year in a row, Green Vibes will partner with the Terrapin Foundation to host an annual beach clean up day a couple of weeks prior to the festival. Last year, volunteers cleaned up a local beach area, loading dozens of garbage bags with glass, plastic bags, aluminum cans, barbed wire, large pieces of wood and metal and many other objects.

The Green Vibes program and strides like the beach clean up help make sure Seaside Park remains in pristine condition; keeping neighboring beaches and the environment of Seaside Park safe and clean is one of the most important parts of the festival and the Terrapin Foundation’s mission.

If festival goers cannot make the beach cleanup, they can still play a positive role by being consciously aware of items that are brought into the festival and personal trash that is created during the the four day weekend.

“Whenever possible, bring food from local farmer’s markets or your own gardens. Repackage any food into reusable containers,” Moran suggested. “Bring reusable cups, plates, etc. to minimize what goes into the waste stream. Our food vendors use eco-friendly materials too so that’s another great option.

Green Vibes offers some great pre-festival packing tips to help lighten the environmental impact:

Carpool: the less stuff you stack, the more people you can pack!
Bring reusable water bottles
Avoid bringing food that spoils easily and/or is individually wrapped
Think reusable before you buy disposable
Bring bags for garbage and recycling
Avoid styrofoam coolers
If you have to buy new, recycle the box before you arrive on-site
Avoid bringing unnecessary items that become pesky waste: silly string, confetti, glow sticks, packing peanuts, etc.

While at the festival, campers should make sure their campsite belongings are secured to reduce wind blown trash and litter. Most importantly, at the close of the festival, pack up everything you brought with you and leave the area as nice or better than you found it.

Every attendee of Gathering of the Vibes has an opportunity, and even a responsibility, to demonstrate leadership in this area. Not only is taking care of the environment an important topic, it is also vital to be consciously sustainable at Vibes to maintain the thriving ecosystem that is Seaside Park.

Tag: music festival

Vinyl Mag’s Favorite Moments of Electric Forest 2015

Green & Sustainable Vibes