Enchanted Forest Gathering 2016: The Experience

On Friday afternoon, I start my drive immediately after clocking out of work and head straight for the magical festival known as Enchanted Forest Gathering or EFG. Having just gotten into the festival scene recently, I had only heard a little about EFG, but after a bit more research into the event, workshops being offered and music line-up, I quickly became excited to experience this new festival.

It was a three hour scenic drive through open fields and lush forests from the bay area. We enter the festival grounds to park and get our wristbands, I’m already bubbling over with excitement and joy to be in such a wonderful place where everyone is encouraged to express themselves to the fullest. Every one of the staff greet us with a wave and a warm welcoming smile. Immediately upon stepping out of the car, after a little snafu with parking, I become overwhelmed with a sense of positivity and happiness and I immediately know that it is going to be an amazing three days.

Although you might not realize it from the pictures, videos or promotions, EFG is an incredibly intimate festival with probably less than 3,000 attendees in total, not including staff, press, artists, etc. The festival is embedded in a small wooded area with some nice wide open spaces that run along a river, great for cooling off during the day in the 90 plus degree weather.

The intimate size of the festival helps to encourage and nurture a more a close-knit community and family which is one of the aspects that sets this festival apart from many others. The sense of community is extremely strong to the point that you get the feeling almost everyone knows everyone else, and you wouldn’t be wrong. Many have been coming since the very first EFG, and with this being the 6th year, that bond between those returning has become stronger and stronger. In fact, the community that has been created here is so welcoming, loving, and caring that this is one of the most family-friendly events I have ever attended. Families are all around me on a regular basis throughout the day and a good part of the night. Some parents with younger kids have been coming so long they have started to trick-out their wagons to pull their children with LED lights and more. EFG has also created an area called Kidslandia that is a daycare center for kids to hang out for periods at a time during the day while their parents have some time to relax on their own. It helps even more to create this family-friendly festival environment when you make it an alcohol-free event, and that is exactly what EFG did.

It may sound weird at first, but EFG is a completely alcohol-free event. Personally, I have not had a drink in about a year, so I found this to be a wildly compelling reason to go. However, I wasn’t sure how others would feel or react to it. As mentioned previously, it certainly helped make the event far more family-friendly than others; but what was surprising and wonderful is that there seemed to be no sign of people missing it or getting mad over it. In all of the conversations that I had with the other fantastic attendees, not one of them mentioned alcohol to me. What’s even better is that the lack of alcohol did not lead to a lack of dancing and fun and merriment. In fact, I think it actually made the event even more fun and uplifting. EFG even hosted two different workshops for people trying to stay or get sober called “Enchanted Sobriety 12 Step Group“.

Workshops are something else that make this festival stand out from others. Sure, other festivals have workshops but I have a hard time thinking of any that have as many or as much of a focus on the workshops as EFG. Workshops range from discussions about relationships and sexuality such as “Language of Touch” to hands on workshops like “Fizzy Fusion” that teach you how to make probiotic drinks. All of the workshops try and help to promote self growth, self discovery and personal health. There are even workshops that focus on how music can be used to heal the body. EFG focuses on their workshops and making sure each one is a positive experience just as much as they do creating an immersive musical experience — which says a lot.

From first entering the festival on Friday afternoon until leaving Sunday night around 2am, the music that was offered at EFG was nothing short of spectacular. With four stages of music, and a secret “renegade stage” at the far end of the camp grounds, there was never a time when you could not wander around and find music to get you up and moving or get you more in touch with your emotions and yourself. Each stage was simple, yet elegant and mesmerizing all at the same time and each let you get up close and person with the artist allowing you to connect with them and their music even more. There was not a single set we didn’t enjoy, but Psy Fi, Dragonfly and Autograf were three of our absolute favorites! We discovered so much great new music from countless talented artists that I didn’t want to leave.

Every single person that I had the pleasure of interacting with was nothing but a delight, and every set that I was able to hear was an incredible journey. The workshops were eye opening and the venue was incredibly stunning. After experiencing what the Enchanted Forest had to offer I’m pretty confident in saying that I will be back next year to delve deeper into this loving community.