ELECTRIC FOREST DATES 25–28 June 2026 LOCATION Double JJ Resort, Rothbury, Michigan, US
he 14th instalment of Electric Forest featured over 100 artists, spanning electronic, jam band, indie and bass
to quickly match colours and manipulate the content to complement the artist’s production.” The stage featured a 5mm LED proscenium header, two iMAG screens and a 7mm upstage LED wall, creating a combined canvas of 7056×2864 pixels. Supplied by Screenworks as part of the wider video systems across Sherwood Court, Ranch Arena and Tripolee, Hippotizer Media Servers powered Observatory’s scenic visuals and displayed artist content on the upstage wall when visiting acts did not bring their own video operator. The workflow also had to accommodate the different approaches of visiting artists and their visual teams. “Hippotizer gives us the flexibility to trigger scenic looks, adjust colour correction, apply visual effects and make live creative changes from whichever controller is most appropriate,” adds Harris. That continuity extends year to year. “I’m able to import last year’s show file, add any additional content and carry on where I left off,” Harris explains. “Even importing our content backup of around 160GB takes only a matter of minutes.” Reliability was equally important. Despite powering the large-format scenic canvas alongside artist content, the Hippotizer systems ran throughout the four-day event without requiring technical support.
genres, including Illenium, Excision, Kaskade, GRiZ (with their Chasing the Golden Hour set), Chris Lake and The String Cheese Incident. More than 40,000 people spent four days under the glow of Sherwood Court, the stage that has slowly become Electric Forest’s visual signature. Every set played out across a scenic canvas more than 7000 pixels wide, converting lighting, lasers and video fused into a single environment. This was all driven by Hippotizer Media Servers from Green Hippo. Behind that canvas is Observatory, which has spent the past five years helping to build Sherwood Court’s distinctive identity. “Artist video jockeys are often slightly concerned about another operator becoming part of their show,” says Simon Harris, technical director at Observatory. “But they quickly see that I’m there to enhance the audience experience while keeping the stage aesthetic on brand.” He adds: “The biggest challenge is always trying to complement the incoming artist production while retaining the festival and Sherwood Court aesthetic. “Having a wealth of creative FX at my fingertips allows me
SEE YOU IN COURT The Sherwood Court stage at Electric Forest was built by Observatory and powered by Green Hippo’s Hippotizer Media Servers
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