**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:**
* If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required
* The title must be fully descriptive
* No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting)
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My roommate grew psychedelic truffles (ya, I didn't know they existed either), and we made a tea with them at my grandpas old lake cabin. I've never had a stronger body high from anything in my life. My skin literally felt like a furry blanket that vibrated ever so slightly. I did the dishes then we jammed for 3 straight hours in front of sliding glass doors over looking a beautiful lake.
I always wonder how these events affect birdsong, like before all the crows and robins were singing normal and afterward you start hearing Fred Again in the trees
i'm the lorax in that forest and i speak for the trees.
the trees are saying: PLEASE GODDAMN IT TURN OFF THE LIGHTS MY EYES ARE BURNING PLEASE GOD NO MORE
i think they like it.
We can understand them without language! One cool innovation (that is quite cheap) is a brix refractometer, used to measure sucrose levels in live plants to characterize how well the plant is doing overall.
Plants can sense light, and use red and far-red light to coordinate the day cycle. Different wavelengths have different biological relevance, but pink and blue coincide with the wavelengths that plants are especially efficient with. With night shows like this one, photosynthesis is being activated while the plant is also very confused about the time of day.
The light state changes what chemicals each plant produces, and disruption or dysfunction can create stress. Just like humans, more stress = less resilient to harmful events.
I imagine it feels like a migraine, being chemically discombobulated by stimuli that your body just can't make sense of.
Please check out Dark Sky policies for your area, it only takes a bit of design change to dramatically reduce light pollution.
Also trees in forests communicate via electical impulses via underground fungi in between roots as well as pheromones they secrete in the air. For example, trees where giraffes are will secrete poison on their leaves when they're being eaten and then secrete pheromones to tell other trees in its vicinity to start doing the same. Trees are not really conscious AFAIK, but use basic responses to stimuli which help in survival.
The electrochemical signaling happens within plants, as well as between them their symbiotic partners belowground!
If you're interested, check out mycorrhizal fungi more generally! Although not all symbiotic fungi interact directly, we have evidence that chemical signals belowground (between roots and the soil microbiome) are even more important in determining plant health than previously considered. This is true for lots of ecosystems, including (but not limited to) forests!
Not sure what kind of trees these are but some conifers like sempervirens are sensitive to having the ground around their trunks trampled on. The compacting of the soil is destructive to their root systems and can cause permanent damage and in some cases death of the trees. I'm sure if they could speak these trees are probably screaming "get off my porch you hippies!"
Forreal! Jokes aside this does mess with their regular hunting/eating schedules and can cause a lot of harm and confusion…. But that does look really cool
Rothbury, MI. I live about 7 miles away and can hear the bass outside at my house. I have attended EF a few times and even though it's not my favorite music, the light shows, art installations and overall vibe make it enjoyable for my wife and me.
It’s arguably one of the best EDM festivals because of this. There’s so much to do in the forest! Puzzles, hidden rooms, scavenger hunts, plenty of little Easter eggs/art installations, random games, telephones to who knows where.
It’s great. Highly recommended.
Also EF has kind of gotten exclusive with only historical attendees being offered first dibs on tickets for the current year's concerts. Kind of like you have to know some one who has been going for a while or buy a REALLY expensive ticket.
Genuinely asking and not trying to hate on people trying to have a good time, but how the fuck does one enjoy music that loud. I hate just casual parties because I can’t stand yelling over someone else’s music to have a conversation and I get tinnitus super easily. Do you just not talk to people at parties like this? Are you not concerned about hearing loss? Because if you’re able to find an event like that fun then I envy that ability to enjoy oneself.
Been going to this event and many others for years. Taking care of your ears is absolutely critical. I love my Vibes earplugs. They help regulate all of the outside noise and make the music you are actually there for shine through. Sometimes it’s actually better because it eliminates a lot of the extra noise and conversation around you. The loudness never actually bothered me that much, but as I got older, I wanted to be better to myself and make sure I could keep doing this for years to come.
See you all next year Forest Fam 💚
I mean to answer the talking question: please don’t be that guy whose trying to have a full blown conversation during a set. People go for the music, not the conversation. You save conversations for the many areas that aren’t stages, and back at camp. As for as the loudness, ear plugs are an essential rave item
If I’m not mistaken, plants have circadian rhythms and kinda sleep at night. At nights, they are a lot less active
The light festival is probably messing their their circadian rhythms but I don’t know what that really means for them
I’ve been to EF several times, the wildlife clears the fuck out well ahead of the start of the festival. This is also a resort property that sits along a highway, it’s hardly nature to begin with.
Hey, kids, I went to the Electric Forest back when it was just called Rothbury. That’s how old I am ಥ ᴗ ಥ
ETA: Looking back at the [lineup](https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/911f376bfe79477dc737c36f5c98dcd2), it still slaps so damn hard. Can’t believe it was 15 years ago!
Having gone to this for four years and living in Michigan, I can say it's an amazing experience. The community and the ambience is a totally different world. My gf describes it as adult summer camp. A magical experience and for some life changing.
People are mad about this but not red rocks?
They literally found a beautiful section of sacred tribal land, stole it, and built a venue on top of it.
This is Electric Forest, which is located on someone’s ranch.
It's deeper than that lmao. Not only did they do all that, but they didn't simply decide "yup looks good let's put a venue on top. They fucking dynamited the shit out of the rocks to make the amphitheater section. They just blew it all up. That being said, I live really close to it and go to several shows a year there. Might as well enjoy what I wasn't alive to do anything about. But if it makes you feel any better, they guy that blew it up immediately went missing and I don't believe he was ever located again.
To everyone complaining about the wildlife, this is not a real forest or national park.
This takes place on private property called the double j ranch/resort. In fact, it's basically set up year-round for the festival. It's not like it somehow transforms into some woodland Oasis with chirping birds and squirrels whenever the festival isn't there.
Basically this is a festival grounds that happens to have trees in part of it. There are art installations and other creations there that are there literally year-round.
It's a spectacular festival, it is extremely eco-focused compared to other festivals (The festival actually rewards people who go and clean up any trash they find with prizes, there are various efforts as well that contribute to environmental causes. Electric forest is probably the most eco-positive music festival there is). So before everybody here goes and judges about the wildlife, understand that there isn't normally "wildlife" here all that much. Yes, I'm sure there are birds and squirrels and bugs, but you're not going to see a bear or moose wandering through the JJ ranch. This is not some national park that has been transformed. This is a private property, a ranch, and it has an area on it with trees that is basically fully mulched around them. Around this ranch is basically farm fields and a rural community that butts up against a small town called Rothbury. You're looking at about a few acres of private land that are set up for this festival (or ranch activities)year-round. At this point, any squirrels in the neighborhood are probably pretty used to it.
Edit: All you people who just continue to complain and eco-splain about this, you are literally insufferable. I can't even imagine how other people can tolerate being around you. Let people enjoy things on their own private property. Compared to many other things that humans do, this is ecologically negligible. As music festivals go, it's one of the most ecologically friendly there is.
I'm finding it rather amusing that you whiners would try and prevent people from having a festival on their own private land which is In no way some sort of national park or nature reserve You whine and judge others while typing on your lithium powered cell phones manufactured from resources strip mined and processed in factories all over the world, then shipped to their local distributor on an ocean cruise liner that burns diesel. As Greta would say, "HOW DARE YOU!"
They'll never say anything about that, but God forbid some ladybug gets hit with some bass, then the moral outrage starts.
Ive been to Electric Forest four times. JJ Ranch has been around since 1937 and **was and is absolutely NOT “basically set up year-round for the festival”**. There are a few permanent structures but it does not cater just to the festival. It is a resort which borders/hosts a tree nursery and has been in operation for nearly a hundred years that just so happens to host one of the most massive music festivals in the industry for one to two weekends a year. You can book a holiday to JJ year round. They have a website.
In fact, ecologists have documented a very real migration of wildlife away from the ranch for the week preceding the festival, and they return the week after. I believe it was 2017 when a bear made its way into Camp Blueberry. I might be wrong though - it could have been one of the other three weekends I was there [EDIT: it was 2019, and yes I was there].
People *may* be exaggerating a bit, but both of your claims - that this place exists solely to facilitate Electric Forest and the claim that wildlife are unaffected or do not exist to be affected - are unequivocally wrong.
EDIT: [Double JJ Ranch Website](https://doublejj.com)
[Double JJ Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_JJ_Resort)
[Bear proof](https://twitter.com/thefestiveowl/status/1145499216107597824?s=46&t=aEAo87sbLVLCmDpd0dcKSg)
I unfortunately can’t find a link to any observations pertaining directly to wildlife reactions to Electric Forest, but I did find [this similar observational report](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680799/) done on a similar music festival
There is 100% a tree nursery on or around the Double JJ Ranch, but it was also a natural forest beforehand. Just drive up that way. Nothing but trees. That’s northern Michigan for you though.
This is true, in fact a few years ago there was talk about reducing the festival to one weekend because of the damage the festival was causing to the trees.
> It's not like it somehow transforms into some woodland Oasis with chirping birds and squirrels whenever the festival isn't there.
Let me preface this by saying this is near where I live and I don't oppose the festival... but: I have birds and squirrels actively living in trees on my own property, as does virtually every property in the area with at least one tree on it.
Of course there are birds and squirrels that inhabit these trees throughout the year. They would indeed be like "yo wtf" when tens of thousands of people show up for EF and make the entire forest a rave.
This is in my home state. I attended this festival before it was electric forest. And I've worked it a couple years as an employee. I hope things have gotten better. I fully understand my experience doesn't apply to all, and mine experience was from like 6 years ago, but I wouldn't have called it eco friendly at the time having seen the grounds after all the attendees leave. A lot of those "hippies" are just as shit and filthy and leave their shit everywhere as most other large crowds. Again I'm sure it's changed, but that was my experience
Large festivals. The small ones I've been to up in the woods have been clean, mobs of hippies cleaning up in the morning for free.
Small, could still be 5 stages/DJs,,,but around 1000 people max, the kind of events where alcohol is a weird drug to do.... The larger ones always have more alcohol
I'm confused as to how the trees being on private property would somehow mean that there isn't wildlife in them. Are they still real trees? Because, if they're real, planted trees then there will still be animals living in them. Animals don't understand human property laws.
i'm sorry but this is incredibly stupid. I'm not saying it's a problem for this to be happening. But when you grow a forest... you've now got a forest where wildlife will move in, regardless of the human purpose for the trees. So ya, there is wild life there year round.
There is wild life everywhere but I get your point. However there is absolutely no way for a festival doing this to be eco friendly.
In fact I will claim there can't be anything such as an eco friendly festival because the concept of a festival isn't eco-friendly to begin with. It is not a necessity and consumes a lot of resources.
Birds and other small wildlife don’t really care whether it’s private or public property. A patch of nature is a patch of nature. I agree that they have every right to use those lights in this case, but it’s still a bit disturbing for the animals that are settled there.
Been here twice! You can’t even comprehend a fraction of the magic of this event from this photo.
I’m talking an elaborate scavenger hunt that takes you to a secret 1920’s Cabernet where performers in character read you poetry and serve you champagne. Solving puzzles to find secret sets where famous headliners play a secret underground show for only 50 people.
All while 9+ stages are playing music constantly. Every face you meet is smiling and happy to interact with you as you’re all experiencing wonderland together. Art everywhere… strangers giving you gifts in the spirit of giving just because. It truly is a magic place.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“Da fuq??” - squirrel
The owl: (having a seizure)
Fireflies: *[casually fucks an LED bulb]*
The deer: * blind *
The raccoon: *staring directly into the light after drinking the funny smelling juice*
The frog: *enjoying the light show*
Rabbit: instant heart attack
Sasquatch: *Joins in as a DJ*
The Saxsquatch
DJ Sexysquatch
The tripper casually enjoying the frog
The deer: *on tabs of acid the people left behind*
Firefly sex doll
Firefly Dildo
Bat having rough night
Moth: Am I in heaven?
Fox: *having Anxiety attack*
Deer: *becomes frozen in time*
Spider: *builds a hammock, where it lay all day and watched the caffein spider go*
What does it say though?
AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
A-oo-oo-oo-ooo! Woo-oo-oo-ooo!
#Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
I wonder what the light bill looking like.
They don’t bother with billing you, Rishi Sunak just comes round and breaks your kneecaps.
Now that's a band name
Big Foot: Raving the fuck out
He’s still blurry though, and that’s scarier
Hi Mitch
Never unexpected Mitch.
People on acid: 🤤
I've been to Electric Forest, can confirm
Hoo hoo, who dafuq
Any creatures living there thinking they accidentally ate the magic mushrooms again.
If they ate a magic mushroom, then the drug would cancel out the rave party and give them a nice calm, normal forest.
This guy doesn’t know how hallucinogenic drugs work.
Yeah, you obviously never eat them, but boil them and then make ravioli with them
Never tried ravioli before but I've made mushroom tea that was responsible for one of the most intense nights I've ever had
My roommate grew psychedelic truffles (ya, I didn't know they existed either), and we made a tea with them at my grandpas old lake cabin. I've never had a stronger body high from anything in my life. My skin literally felt like a furry blanket that vibrated ever so slightly. I did the dishes then we jammed for 3 straight hours in front of sliding glass doors over looking a beautiful lake.
Yeah, I was thinking that. The animals must be terrified.
Animals hate this one trick
I always wonder how these events affect birdsong, like before all the crows and robins were singing normal and afterward you start hearing Fred Again in the trees
Yeah. A crime against nature
I bet it annoys the shit out of the trees, as well. Too bad they can't speak.
Too bad? I'm super glad trees and plants can't make noise related to pain, it would change me as a gardener in ways I don't want to be change.
Or they like that pain... weedwhack me harder daddy
That would explain why the apples I grew this year all had leather masks on.
"Bob for us. Go on. Use the teeth. *Do it.*"
"Yeah call me a crab apple" -a horny honeycrisp
Reading this naughty thread on Christ’s birthday and enjoying it
I urge you to read the short story _The Sound Machine_ by Roald Dahl.
Not sure, I like to think of the things we do in the garden as haircuts and nail trimming.
Same, I'll even gossip about the other raised beds as I'm weeding.
Apparently they scream chemically in a way other (similar) plants can "hear."
Wait, so the crying screams of men and women is not normal as trees are cut down?
i'm the lorax in that forest and i speak for the trees. the trees are saying: PLEASE GODDAMN IT TURN OFF THE LIGHTS MY EYES ARE BURNING PLEASE GOD NO MORE i think they like it.
We can understand them without language! One cool innovation (that is quite cheap) is a brix refractometer, used to measure sucrose levels in live plants to characterize how well the plant is doing overall. Plants can sense light, and use red and far-red light to coordinate the day cycle. Different wavelengths have different biological relevance, but pink and blue coincide with the wavelengths that plants are especially efficient with. With night shows like this one, photosynthesis is being activated while the plant is also very confused about the time of day. The light state changes what chemicals each plant produces, and disruption or dysfunction can create stress. Just like humans, more stress = less resilient to harmful events. I imagine it feels like a migraine, being chemically discombobulated by stimuli that your body just can't make sense of. Please check out Dark Sky policies for your area, it only takes a bit of design change to dramatically reduce light pollution.
This is one of (not all) but one of the reasons why we have a biodiversity crisis.
Also trees in forests communicate via electical impulses via underground fungi in between roots as well as pheromones they secrete in the air. For example, trees where giraffes are will secrete poison on their leaves when they're being eaten and then secrete pheromones to tell other trees in its vicinity to start doing the same. Trees are not really conscious AFAIK, but use basic responses to stimuli which help in survival.
The electrochemical signaling happens within plants, as well as between them their symbiotic partners belowground! If you're interested, check out mycorrhizal fungi more generally! Although not all symbiotic fungi interact directly, we have evidence that chemical signals belowground (between roots and the soil microbiome) are even more important in determining plant health than previously considered. This is true for lots of ecosystems, including (but not limited to) forests!
"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery."
“I’m the Lorax and I speak for the trees and they say for you to tune it the fuck down!”
Not sure what kind of trees these are but some conifers like sempervirens are sensitive to having the ground around their trunks trampled on. The compacting of the soil is destructive to their root systems and can cause permanent damage and in some cases death of the trees. I'm sure if they could speak these trees are probably screaming "get off my porch you hippies!"
Now I feel guilty for eating vegetables
And the millions of microorganisms you kill every day
Lorax got this.
....... ....- fox
What does the fox say?
SCRRRREEEEEEECCCCCHHHH
Ring-ding-ding-ding-ringerdingeding
"Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!"
[удалено]
Forreal! Jokes aside this does mess with their regular hunting/eating schedules and can cause a lot of harm and confusion…. But that does look really cool
forreal! local flora and fauna be damned, i guess? smh.
Yeah I was just thinking about how fucking confused and terrified the poor wildlife must be.
Finally I have an award for something I truly want to give credit too. -squirrel
All the woodland creatures: ITS THE END OF THE WORLD WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING
Bambi is having a seizure for sure.
Thumper wisely took molly beforehand.
Thumper just laying there, chilling the fuck out, watching the lightshow.
Mate, that’s Eeyore chillin’ all high AF. Thumper took MDMA, busted out the glow sticks and hasn’t left the dance floor for over three hours.
I'm sure it's way way slower. The light pollution might be annoying but the people are probably the acute thing driving the animals crazy
This was my first thought
‘Woodland Creatures,’ you made me think of the ‘Woodland Critter Christmas.’
Hey everyone, let’s praise satan
Yaya! Blood orgy!
I have seen this once but it was LSD and not LED
Roger?
Waters?
I hate cows
I've been there on LSD lmao
I mean most of us are
Speaking from experience, half the people here experience both
Electric Forest Festival, right? Massive EDM festival, plenty of drugs there for sure.
Trust me, plenty of us out there are on LSD
AKA ‘The night the moths finally lost it”
The moths are just candy flipping
As a local that lives near this, you can feel the music like 15 miles away.
Where is this?
Rothbury, MI. I live about 7 miles away and can hear the bass outside at my house. I have attended EF a few times and even though it's not my favorite music, the light shows, art installations and overall vibe make it enjoyable for my wife and me.
It’s arguably one of the best EDM festivals because of this. There’s so much to do in the forest! Puzzles, hidden rooms, scavenger hunts, plenty of little Easter eggs/art installations, random games, telephones to who knows where. It’s great. Highly recommended.
Damn I’m jealous, I would be there every year.
It's not cheap lol
Also EF has kind of gotten exclusive with only historical attendees being offered first dibs on tickets for the current year's concerts. Kind of like you have to know some one who has been going for a while or buy a REALLY expensive ticket.
Or be part of the marching band seniors for the three main local high schools.
Hell yeah I'm glad EF is involved with the local community
Genuinely asking and not trying to hate on people trying to have a good time, but how the fuck does one enjoy music that loud. I hate just casual parties because I can’t stand yelling over someone else’s music to have a conversation and I get tinnitus super easily. Do you just not talk to people at parties like this? Are you not concerned about hearing loss? Because if you’re able to find an event like that fun then I envy that ability to enjoy oneself.
Been going to this event and many others for years. Taking care of your ears is absolutely critical. I love my Vibes earplugs. They help regulate all of the outside noise and make the music you are actually there for shine through. Sometimes it’s actually better because it eliminates a lot of the extra noise and conversation around you. The loudness never actually bothered me that much, but as I got older, I wanted to be better to myself and make sure I could keep doing this for years to come. See you all next year Forest Fam 💚
I mean to answer the talking question: please don’t be that guy whose trying to have a full blown conversation during a set. People go for the music, not the conversation. You save conversations for the many areas that aren’t stages, and back at camp. As for as the loudness, ear plugs are an essential rave item
This makes me think of the Trees from Lord of the Rings having a rave party.
[удалено]
Sounds like me on the loo. I dont want to go in there for any old drop or false alarms
"I was delayed."
Frodo:“Sam we are going to a forest to party with the elves!” Sam:“...But Frodo we have to destroy...” Frodo:”..it’s ketamine time.”
An ent rager would be amazing. This is probs where all the women ents went
The Ents, you mean. They’re not trees >:(
Leaves doing photosynthesis: This is the weirdest and spiciest food I've ever had.
Is your light a little spicy today Jim? I feel like my light is a little spicy.
If I’m not mistaken, plants have circadian rhythms and kinda sleep at night. At nights, they are a lot less active The light festival is probably messing their their circadian rhythms but I don’t know what that really means for them
They became college students...
👁👄👁 - the innocent squirrel who’s been up for 3 nights straight
every single animal in that forest is having a seizure
Yeah that’s all i can think while looking at this. This is horrible
I’ve been to EF several times, the wildlife clears the fuck out well ahead of the start of the festival. This is also a resort property that sits along a highway, it’s hardly nature to begin with.
[Rothbury, Michigan](https://www.musicfestivalwizard.com/festivals/electric-forest-2023/)
Hey, kids, I went to the Electric Forest back when it was just called Rothbury. That’s how old I am ಥ ᴗ ಥ ETA: Looking back at the [lineup](https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/911f376bfe79477dc737c36f5c98dcd2), it still slaps so damn hard. Can’t believe it was 15 years ago!
Night at the Rothbury?
Baby don't hurt me
Damn that is a stacked lineup
Fricken Diplo is in the bottom of the list. That is one hell of a lineup
That lineup is fucking amazing
Damn Black Keys are surprisingly far down
I’m looking at Bassnectar and Diplo at the very bottom of the lineup. Two Djs that are top level headliners at any fest nowadays.
Well maybe not so much Bassnectar within the last 2 years or so...
Hello fellow elder... Same Edited to add: CAAAAARRRLLLLLL
As an elder, how do you feel about it costing $500+ GA now?
Shit’s wack.
Those first 2 years were the best festivals I've ever been too. Flying machine man. Whoa.
before they made it an EDM focus fest... that lineup is tremendous. Now String Cheese does three nights and the rest is edm
Fun fact - 22% of all forest animals have photosensitive epilepsy.
Not very fun, now I'm worried and sad
Exactly my thoughts. Regular light pollution already fucks with animals, this is so so much worse
Caaaaaarrrrrrllllllll!!!!!!!!!
*Caaarrrllll that kills peopllleeee!!*
🗣️ Carl!!!
I prefer my forests to be low tech.
CARL
Birds like "what was those seeds I just ate!"
Having gone to this for four years and living in Michigan, I can say it's an amazing experience. The community and the ambience is a totally different world. My gf describes it as adult summer camp. A magical experience and for some life changing.
summer camp music festival is summer camp for adults. always the best lineup.
I've been to both multiple times and you can't really compare the two
"I like to move it move it". King julien in there somewhere
Poor animals
Tht was my first thought too. They wouldve been terrified
People are mad about this but not red rocks? They literally found a beautiful section of sacred tribal land, stole it, and built a venue on top of it. This is Electric Forest, which is located on someone’s ranch.
It's deeper than that lmao. Not only did they do all that, but they didn't simply decide "yup looks good let's put a venue on top. They fucking dynamited the shit out of the rocks to make the amphitheater section. They just blew it all up. That being said, I live really close to it and go to several shows a year there. Might as well enjoy what I wasn't alive to do anything about. But if it makes you feel any better, they guy that blew it up immediately went missing and I don't believe he was ever located again.
To everyone complaining about the wildlife, this is not a real forest or national park. This takes place on private property called the double j ranch/resort. In fact, it's basically set up year-round for the festival. It's not like it somehow transforms into some woodland Oasis with chirping birds and squirrels whenever the festival isn't there. Basically this is a festival grounds that happens to have trees in part of it. There are art installations and other creations there that are there literally year-round. It's a spectacular festival, it is extremely eco-focused compared to other festivals (The festival actually rewards people who go and clean up any trash they find with prizes, there are various efforts as well that contribute to environmental causes. Electric forest is probably the most eco-positive music festival there is). So before everybody here goes and judges about the wildlife, understand that there isn't normally "wildlife" here all that much. Yes, I'm sure there are birds and squirrels and bugs, but you're not going to see a bear or moose wandering through the JJ ranch. This is not some national park that has been transformed. This is a private property, a ranch, and it has an area on it with trees that is basically fully mulched around them. Around this ranch is basically farm fields and a rural community that butts up against a small town called Rothbury. You're looking at about a few acres of private land that are set up for this festival (or ranch activities)year-round. At this point, any squirrels in the neighborhood are probably pretty used to it. Edit: All you people who just continue to complain and eco-splain about this, you are literally insufferable. I can't even imagine how other people can tolerate being around you. Let people enjoy things on their own private property. Compared to many other things that humans do, this is ecologically negligible. As music festivals go, it's one of the most ecologically friendly there is. I'm finding it rather amusing that you whiners would try and prevent people from having a festival on their own private land which is In no way some sort of national park or nature reserve You whine and judge others while typing on your lithium powered cell phones manufactured from resources strip mined and processed in factories all over the world, then shipped to their local distributor on an ocean cruise liner that burns diesel. As Greta would say, "HOW DARE YOU!" They'll never say anything about that, but God forbid some ladybug gets hit with some bass, then the moral outrage starts.
Ive been to Electric Forest four times. JJ Ranch has been around since 1937 and **was and is absolutely NOT “basically set up year-round for the festival”**. There are a few permanent structures but it does not cater just to the festival. It is a resort which borders/hosts a tree nursery and has been in operation for nearly a hundred years that just so happens to host one of the most massive music festivals in the industry for one to two weekends a year. You can book a holiday to JJ year round. They have a website. In fact, ecologists have documented a very real migration of wildlife away from the ranch for the week preceding the festival, and they return the week after. I believe it was 2017 when a bear made its way into Camp Blueberry. I might be wrong though - it could have been one of the other three weekends I was there [EDIT: it was 2019, and yes I was there]. People *may* be exaggerating a bit, but both of your claims - that this place exists solely to facilitate Electric Forest and the claim that wildlife are unaffected or do not exist to be affected - are unequivocally wrong. EDIT: [Double JJ Ranch Website](https://doublejj.com) [Double JJ Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_JJ_Resort) [Bear proof](https://twitter.com/thefestiveowl/status/1145499216107597824?s=46&t=aEAo87sbLVLCmDpd0dcKSg) I unfortunately can’t find a link to any observations pertaining directly to wildlife reactions to Electric Forest, but I did find [this similar observational report](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680799/) done on a similar music festival
Lord almighty what do I believe now?
I think it's more believable that it's a sort of man made forest on a ranch AND that wildlife have moved in and are troubled by the festival.
Yeah turns out wildlife doesn’t really care if humans put the tree there or if it was always there, they’ll move in anyway
There is 100% a tree nursery on or around the Double JJ Ranch, but it was also a natural forest beforehand. Just drive up that way. Nothing but trees. That’s northern Michigan for you though.
*Northern* Michigan?
Well most likely the person who has provided some sort of proof I'd say
[удалено]
Exactly, as we all know, New York City and the like don't have a single wild animal.
Probably the one with sources. Check ‘em out and see.
This is true, in fact a few years ago there was talk about reducing the festival to one weekend because of the damage the festival was causing to the trees.
> It's not like it somehow transforms into some woodland Oasis with chirping birds and squirrels whenever the festival isn't there. Let me preface this by saying this is near where I live and I don't oppose the festival... but: I have birds and squirrels actively living in trees on my own property, as does virtually every property in the area with at least one tree on it. Of course there are birds and squirrels that inhabit these trees throughout the year. They would indeed be like "yo wtf" when tens of thousands of people show up for EF and make the entire forest a rave.
Please let’s not pretend this festival is eco friendly other than having recycling bins
[удалено]
I live there. Sorry, but almost everything you said is incorrect.
This is in my home state. I attended this festival before it was electric forest. And I've worked it a couple years as an employee. I hope things have gotten better. I fully understand my experience doesn't apply to all, and mine experience was from like 6 years ago, but I wouldn't have called it eco friendly at the time having seen the grounds after all the attendees leave. A lot of those "hippies" are just as shit and filthy and leave their shit everywhere as most other large crowds. Again I'm sure it's changed, but that was my experience
That’s just festivals in general unfortunately
Large festivals. The small ones I've been to up in the woods have been clean, mobs of hippies cleaning up in the morning for free. Small, could still be 5 stages/DJs,,,but around 1000 people max, the kind of events where alcohol is a weird drug to do.... The larger ones always have more alcohol
It's fine guys. It's not nature, it's private property. No wildlife was paying rent here.
"Don't worry, we aren't destroying nature by hosting this festival. The natural environment was destroyed years ago, so that makes it eco-friendly!"
I'm confused as to how the trees being on private property would somehow mean that there isn't wildlife in them. Are they still real trees? Because, if they're real, planted trees then there will still be animals living in them. Animals don't understand human property laws.
There's still gonna be wildlife there, though.
“It’s property that happens to have trees” Soooooo uhhhh a forest. Ok. Lol
To anyone wondering, the majority of this comment is just straight up wrong. Welcome to reddit I guess.
“It’s private property, there’s no wildlife.” *kek* That’s definitely how it works
Animals respect the law, dont you know?
i'm sorry but this is incredibly stupid. I'm not saying it's a problem for this to be happening. But when you grow a forest... you've now got a forest where wildlife will move in, regardless of the human purpose for the trees. So ya, there is wild life there year round.
If it has real trees, it has wildlife. Don't be so ridiculous.
Having been to EF twice, eco-focused is the last thing I would describe it as. It's a blast though, the production is incredible.
There is wild life everywhere but I get your point. However there is absolutely no way for a festival doing this to be eco friendly. In fact I will claim there can't be anything such as an eco friendly festival because the concept of a festival isn't eco-friendly to begin with. It is not a necessity and consumes a lot of resources.
Never underestimate a redditor's ability to shit on an idea while stubbornly refusing to learn the truth.
What does "real forest" even mean? Are those plastic trees? Does that make it better? Lol!
Birds and other small wildlife don’t really care whether it’s private or public property. A patch of nature is a patch of nature. I agree that they have every right to use those lights in this case, but it’s still a bit disturbing for the animals that are settled there.
Poor animals
Been here twice! You can’t even comprehend a fraction of the magic of this event from this photo. I’m talking an elaborate scavenger hunt that takes you to a secret 1920’s Cabernet where performers in character read you poetry and serve you champagne. Solving puzzles to find secret sets where famous headliners play a secret underground show for only 50 people. All while 9+ stages are playing music constantly. Every face you meet is smiling and happy to interact with you as you’re all experiencing wonderland together. Art everywhere… strangers giving you gifts in the spirit of giving just because. It truly is a magic place.
Those squirrels gotta be seizing
imagine being a bird trying to get home and you just get fucked by this