We are all the trees that make the the forest electric. Everyone commenting for this contest are my family members and each deserve to go to the forest as much as I do. I have learned a long time ago that even if you took away the music, lights, and activities that my brothers and sisters of the forest would be happy just being together for this annual family reunion. My story may not be much different from others here, but this seems to be a much more meaningful way to enter the forest rather than entering your credit card number and billing information. It is giving us all a chance to reflect on why we really love the forest and why we want (perhaps even need) to go every year. It was 2011 when I graduated high school, I was always sort oddball and did not have a whole lot of friends except for a select few. The few that I did have were brought together by our love of music. We all shoved something different to our ears every day, resulting in an eclectic playlist that we became quite proud of. My friend TJ introduced us the electronic music, Scott gave us an appreciation of reggae, Jake showed us the best rap and hip hop, and I brought the folk, bluegrass, and Americana to the table. We became our own family, spending everyday after school together in various garages and basements as long as there were speakers to hear our music from. It was pure unadulterated joy and we did not want it to end even though we all knew it would. With graduation approaching we knew things were going to change. Our family was moving on to college and we would all be going to some different part of the country away from each other and our music. We knew we had to find some way to commemorate our love for the art and each other so we thought about going to a concert together in the summer. It seemed almost to east because we would already be going to concerts every month at Minneapolis venues so we wanted to do something bigger. Thankfully while browsing the internet, TJ just happened to stumble upon this thing called Electric Forest. None of us had been to a festival before so this would be a first time experience for us as well as the artists of the forest itself. We were absolutely taken aback by the line up, over half of the performers were people who I can precisely recall hearing at least one song from, we thought it was too good to be true. There was barely any decision in the matter, we were going to Electric Forest 2011 and that was that. We saved up our money for the next few months and waited until we each had enough money to buy it on the same day. I remember the day we all bought the tickets, it was the night of my birthday March 25 and thanks to a card full of cash from grandma I finally had enough to give myself this birthday present. We each got on our laptops, entered our information, and click confirm purchase at the same time. After an exchange of cheers and high fives all we could do it wait. Graduation came, emotions were a roller coaster, this was our last summer together before we shove off to college but all we could hear was the forest calling for us to be there. With all of us being 18 we were a little nervous of this huge undertaking we were about to embark on. We are from Minnesota and Rothbury, Michigan is a twelve hour drive away from us easily the longest road trip any of us have taken. Packing for our first festival was something we had never done before, we knew to take the essentials, food, water, sleeping bag, tent, and a CD case full of our favorite jams but that was really it. When June 29 came we all waited for each other to get off work and then meet at my house to pack up my van. We stuffed my old Dodge Grand Caravan to the brim with our things kissed my mom goodbye and started our long adventure. Road trips are easy when they are with people you love. The trail of excitement we were leaving behind us just got more intense with every inch we moved closer to the forest. We each made a CD with artists from the forest and listened to them for all twelve hours. Pretty Lights got us through Minnesota and over the border to Wisconsin, where Stephen Marley and Railroad earth then took over. Once we made it to Illinois I remember hearing Beats Antique and Big Gigantic while cruising at 80 mph down these five lane highways. I had to put Excision on by the time we reached Indiana at around 3 in the morning so I could stay awake. Once we made it to Michigan, the sun was rising, my friends were asleep and The String Cheese Incident was keeping me company all the way to the Double JJ Resort. It was around 8 in the morning when we finally got settled in our campsite. The mass of people alone was something to marvel at. We all took a quick nap after such a long journey and killed some time until the music started. You never forget your first time waking into the festival grounds, it is has been the same every year. There is no sadness, only happy faces, there is no anger, only compassion, no hate, only love. I am convinced that once there is enough people in one place in the world feeling the same good feelings together, it creates an euphoric aura that cannot be measured or imitated. It is one of those unexplainable phenomenons that one must experience on their own. We saw every artist that we possibly could while we were there. It is a good problem to have when one needs to debate on seeing the first half of EOTO to see all of Feed Me and have enough time to catch most of Bassnectar. The music has and always will be the main reason why tens of thousands of people come together for a weekend but to me it not the entire experience. The people is what gets me every time. My friends and I always thought we were the ones who looked different in high school with our long hair, thrift store clothes, and body piercings but in the forest we felt right at home. People watching has become our past time and I hope it is the same for other forest goers too. Lets face it you are not going to be everyone's friend at the forest but it is nice to at least look friendly and that is exactly what everybody does. I have laughed out loud at some of the way people dress, from seeing spongebob break dance to a teletubby smoking a cigarette. I appreciate these people for bringing joy into my life as well as others, they certainly inspired me and my friends to take a chance and be more adventurous with how we dress. Anyway getting back to our first EF we tried to find something that went wrong but we just could not. All except for our own needs that sometimes could not be met I.E. thirst hunger, there was not a bad moment that brought our spirits down. By the end we knew we were coming back the next year and the next year and the next year and so on. This has been the only festival we have ever been to and has become a family tradition for me and my friends. Each and every year since 2011 we have gone back to the forest for our reunion. We have all grown up since the first EF but it still brings us back to those nostalgic moments when everything was a discovery in our eyes. We have new friends, new interests, and new lives but one thing remained consistent, our love for each other and the forest. Just like any other family ours has grown and expanded to a size that I did not imagine would happen. When the original four of us went to our separate colleges, we inevitably found people with the same interests and taste in music that we soon befriended. We told them of all the stories, all the artists and the people that are unique to only EF. So the following year in 2012 was when we needed to take two cars to Michigan. We met up at my house just as we did the year before and loaded up my van once again. My three friends Kyle Wes and Mike from my college St. Cloud State University were coming in the van along with Jake, and TJ brought two of his new friends, Alec and Ben in his SUV along with Scott. So our family has grown to nine now. I had nothing but good feelings towards these new additions to our crew and they turned out to make the experience even more enjoyable. By the end of it we once again determined we will be back again in 2013 and of course we all did. It was the same group of guys in 2014 too and by now we are getting to be pretty brazened forest dwellers. It has still remained the only festival we have been to and we are completely OK with it staying that way. Over the years our tent sights have become more comfortable, we stay hydrated and well fed, know that it is an unspoken rule to share that wisdom with any and all who need it. Our outfits have become wackier, our totems have included the faces of such celebrities as Bill Murray, Nicholas Cage, and Neil Degrasse Tyson, and the bond with our forest family is strengthened with every passing year.Like my brothers and sisters in this contest, I was shocked when I saw that the forest is sold out. Like any broke college student I waited for my tax return to come in before I bought my ticket. Nobody would have guessed it would sell out in a day yet here we are reminiscing about our unforgettable gathering that many well deserving folks will not be able to go to. Out of the nine of us seven have our tickets me and my best friend from college Kyle. This was going to be an extra special year to commemorate the five year anniversary of the original four friends wandering into the forest and falling in love with it all. We all of the Lord of the Rings books/movies and thought since there is nine of us and nine members of the fellowship lets dress up like that for a day in the forest. We already have our costumes picked out and ready to go and Kyle and I were chosen to be Frodo and Sam