Electric Forest 2023 Announces ‘Increased Safety Oversight & Protocols’ Following Beyond Wonderland Shooting
Following a shooting at Beyond Wonderland on Saturday (June 17) that left two dead and others injured, Electric Forest is increasing safety measures ahead of the festival this weekend.
In a statement posted to the Electric Forest social media on Monday (June 19), the Michigan electronic music festival assured of “increased safety oversight and protocols. This presence will be visible to all attendees throughout the festival site and campgrounds.”
The event, held at the Double JJ Resort in the village of Rothbury, Mich., also notes that it will host specialized Festival K9 units, composed of “highly trained dogs and their skilled handlers [that] have undergone rigorous training in firearm detection amidst a large crowd and in challenging environmental conditions.”
Organizes noted that Electric Forest “works year-round with large-scale event security professionals including Michigan State Police, and local law enforcement agencies, and FBI, to provide a safe environment for our patrons, staff, and artists.”
This statement (read in full below) arrives in the wake of the shooting at the electronic music festival Beyond Wonderland, held at The Gorge Amphitheater in George, Wash., around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. The shooting occurred in the camping area of the festival, with the gunman firing randomly into the crowd. Two people were killed and three others were injured before the gunman was apprehended by authorities.
Insomniac Events, the Los Angeles-based dance festival events company that produces Beyond Wonderland, is a partner in Electric Forest, which is also a camping festival. Produced by AEG, Electric Forest takes place in the rural town of Rothbury and is set to launch on Thursday with a lineup including headliners ODESZA, Illenium, Zeds Dead, Above & Beyond and The String Cheese Incident.
Read Electric Forest’s full statement on Twitter below.
Katie Bain
Billboard
