ROTHBURY, Mich. — The Electric Forest Music Festival is tightening up security ahead of Thursday's kickoff.
This comes after a shooting at a similar EDM festival on Saturday. The shooting at the Beyond Wonderland music festival in Washington killed two people and injured three others.
Electric Forest addressed this incident in an Instagram post, saying: "The tragic event at The Gorge is heartbreaking."
It also outlined increased security at the festival: "We want to reassure you that HQ works year-round with large-scale event security professionals, Michigan State Police, and local law enforcement, to provide a safe environment for our patrons, staff, and artists."
These police on sight will include a K9 unit that is specialized in firearm detection.
“The safety of our guests is our number one concern," said Lt. Michelle Robinson, a member of the Michigan State Police on sight for the festival.
MSP will be present at each gate to check guests before they enter.
“If there is anything that is a threat, we do have screening at each entrance to the festival," Lt. Robinson said.
MSP will also be there to handle other security concerns, such as traffic and medical emergencies, like dehydration.
Some fans lined up as early as 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday to get in with the early VIP crowd. The festival is spacing out fan entrance times like this, hopefully to ease some of the traffic that comes with a big influx of people in Rothbury.
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