The 7th annual Electric Forest (EF) festival returned to its home in the beautiful forest of Rothbury, Michigan for the first of two weekends, welcoming over 40,000 fans for four days and nights of camping, live music, incredible art installations and the magic of the enchanted Sherwood Forest.
On site for the 2017 Electric Forest adventure was EF attendee Rachel Britton from Muskegon, Michigan, who reigned this past weekend as the festival's 2017 "EF Monarch." Rachel also happens to be EF's first non-binary Monarch. Embracing the freedom and encouragement of ostentatious self-expression,
Monarch Rachel and their Royal Court - Salem Massacre, Beeka Darwin, and Rikki Paepke - brought a garish good time, and glitter galore, to the weekend one of EF2017.
The Electric Forest community, self-dubbed "Forest Family," is already known for embracing the truth of all its members. When asked why the festival selected Rachel as the 2017 Monarch, Electric Forest organizers explained, "Rachel's mission helps further explore the ways in which the Electric Forest community accepts and celebrates one another's differences, and also offers the opportunity to recognize and understand the ways in which we are all the same."
"I hope that this program showed people that you don't have to be either [male or female]. You can be in the middle, you can be outside, you can be a little bit of both. I hope it helped remind people to be open-minded," Rachel expressed in an interview during the festival.
Equal parts education and entertainment-and conspicuously creative-throughout this first weekend of Electric Forest, Rachel and their Royal Court helped encourage others to express themselves most extravagantly with drag makeovers, drag makeup tutorials, and decadent drag performances. Bringing flashy fun to the Forest Chapel, their diva-tastic soundtrack included sing-along worthy
Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, and
Madonna classics. "It's awesome to be able to help other people bring out these characters they want to explore," Rachel said. "We just hope that attendees will understand that there are characters inside of you that you might not have ever known were there until you throw on some glitter," Royal Court's Salem
Massacre added. A perfect fit for the festival, the Court's Beeka Darwin reminded Forest
Family that drag can fuel confidence and creativity.
Speaking with Billboard onsite at EF,
Monarch Rachel expanded, "
'When I've come [to Electric Forest] in the past, you see all the cool hired performers and characters that walk around with these crazy amazing costumes, and it's just been very inspiring for me, my drag and my photography," Rachel says. "There are just so many people that are very open minded, but I think there are a lot of people here that don't really understand the gender fluidity, or anything but binary. I think this [program] is a good thing, because there are people that need to see different genders, learn more about LGBT variety, and the fact that were representing it here is very important."
Check out and
download photos of
Monarch Rachel and their Royal Court performing at Electric Forest 2017 and
Monarch Rachel and their Royal Court with
Nina Burns (America's Next Top Model), who was also on site and connected with Rachel for some fashion talk.
Electric Forest's
Monarch program is hosted each year as an opportunity for individuals to take an active role in the Electric Forest experience. Intended to spark important conversations, the
Monarch program is a call to action to those who would like to give back and affect the festival community in unique and meaningful ways. Every year prior to the festival through short video submissions,
Monarch applicants outline a tangible project they wish to manifest on the festival grounds, and how it will benefit the Electric Forest community. Past Monarchs have focused on nutritious fueling of the mind and body, hydration, and even a festival-wide scavenger hunt. Most essential to any
Monarch application is its practicality, as well as the quality of the idea, and the personality of the potential sovereign. A high honor that also comes with great responsibility, Monarchs must be willing to work throughout the weekend, bringing their vision to life in fun and creative fashion.
As expressed in their
application video, through their craft, Rachel and their Royal Court were onsite to, "Influence the Forest
Family to go out and really inspire others to accept diversity and embrace the community." Recalling the feeling around the festival when word rang out that the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage a Constitutional right in June 2015, festival organizers say, "[It] sparked how much this conversation is part of the [Electric Forest] community, and how many people resonate with this journey. It was celebrated by everyone. It was a victory for the whole community. Rachel as
Monarch is an evolution of that spirit."
About Electric Forest:
Each summer, just as anticipation for Electric Forest reaches fever pitch, tens of thousands of fans - traveling from all parts of the country, and the world, gather at the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan for the music & camping adventure of a lifetime. Excitement for Electric Forest has never been greater, with last year's festival selling out before the lineup was announced, just a mere two weeks after tickets went on sale.
Entering its seventh year, Electric Forest is known for bringing together a passionate group of fans whose shared community spirit makes the festival a truly unique experience. The festival incorporates the natural beauty of the venue into carefully crafted art pieces and creatively themed environments, while colorful interactive characters and storylines blend with eclectic performing artists and musicians.
With its astonishing and unparalleled integration of music, art and community, Electric Forest delivers "The ultimate festival experience." From the carefully curated musical lineup, to the jaw-dropping
Sherwood Forest, to the festival's unprecedented participatory spirit, to the site's incomparable features and amenities - Electric Forest creates a vibe so thick with "camaraderie and freedom...it must be experienced to be appreciated."
Known for fully embracing the possibilities of an engaged festival community,
Electric Forest's Plug-In Program deliberately blurs the line between event organizers and attendees. With this truly unique "open source" fan engagement platform, Electric Forest harnesses the creativity and passion of its community members, offering real and tangible ways for fans to participate in and ultimately help shape the ElectricForest experience. This is a big deal, since for Electric Forest - experience trumps all.
Hailed as "an amazing example of how music and festivals can change one's outlook on life," it's widely understood that "one of the most important lessons [to be] learned in the Forest is that we are all together," and this sense of community is truly "cherished [within the community] like the incredibly rare find it is."
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