Electric Forest 2023 announces “increased safety” after Beyond Wonderland shooting

More safety oversight and protocols have been announced for Electric Forest 2023, following the tragic shooting at Washington’s Beyond Wonderland festival.

The incident took place at the Gorge Amphitheater on Saturday (June 17), and local police were called and alerted of an “active shooter” on the Beyond Wonderland festival grounds. The shooting resulted in the death of two attendees and left others injured. The second day of the festival (June 18) was later cancelled.

Now, according to a new post on social media, another festival — Michigan’s Electric Forest — will be facing an increase in security in light of the event.

“We want to reassure you that HQ 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,” read the update by Electric Forest.

“We have been in detailed discussions with these teams over the last 24hrs for increased safety oversight and protocols. This presence will be visible to all attendees throughout the festival site and campgrounds.

The tragic event at The Gorge is heartbreaking. We send our condolences to everyone that has been impacted by this terrible incident.

— Electric Forest ⚡🌲 (@Electric_Forest) June 19, 2023

“In addition, we will have specialized Festival K9 Units on site. These highly trained dogs and their skilled handlers have undergone rigorous training in firearm detection amidst a large crowd and in challenging environmental conditions.”

In the series of updates shared on Twitter, Electric Forest organisers also explained that they are set to roll out these new protocols on the first day of this year’s festival (June 22). The 2023 instalment will run until Sunday (June 25), and feature headliners including ODESZA, Illenium, Zeds Dead, Above & Beyond and The String Cheese Incident.

Both Washington’s Beyond Wonderland and Michigan’s Electric Forest dance festivals are produced in collaboration with Insomniac Events. Yesterday (June 19), founder and CEO of the company Pasquale Rotella issued a statement about the tragic events in Washington, and explained why the festival remained open following the shooting.

“On behalf of the entire Insomniac family, we extend our heartfelt thoughts and condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the victims. The loss of two lives, as well as the injuries sustained by others, is an incredibly heartbreaking tragedy,” he said in the statement.

“We made the decision to keep the festival open at the request of law enforcement once it became evident that there was no ongoing threat to the safety of attendees. This was also done to ensure that the majority of attendees stayed away from the campground area where the incident took place. Our staff worked in close coordination with local authorities to secure the area, while also preserving it for investigators to conduct their work in a smaller, isolated section”.