Rothbury and the Electric Forest

For most of the year, Rothbury is about as quiet as a village gets, a small dot in the southeast corner of the county surrounded by farms and woods. Then, for one long weekend each June, forty to fifty thousand people pour in, and this little place becomes the beating heart of one of the biggest music festivals in the Midwest.

The festival is Electric Forest, held just outside the village at the Double JJ Resort, a sprawling two-thousand-acre property that started life back in 1937 as a dude ranch called the Jack and Jill. The event began in 2008 under a different name, the Rothbury Festival, took a year off, and came back in 2011 as Electric Forest, blending electronic music and jam bands with a heavy dose of art and whimsy.

What sets it apart is the setting. At the center of it all is the Sherwood Forest, a real patch of woods strung with thousands of color-changing lights and filled with sculptures, hidden stages, and surprises. By day it’s a shady place to sling a hammock; by night it glows like something out of a dream. When the music stops and the crowds head home, Rothbury settles back into its quiet, until the next June rolls around. You can find dates and lineups at electricforest.com.