It's getting granderer and granderer and granderer …

The latest buzz around the circuit is that everyone’s favorite escape from reality, Electric Forest Festival, has indeed submitted permits to expand to two weekends in 2017. Initially reported by The Festive Owl, news of the expansion has been met with mixed reactions across the board, leaving some excited about the event’s future and others bitter that their beloved festival is growing and changing.

While thousands of would-be attendees jump for joy at the increased possibility of attending the legendary fest, many experienced Foresters are not quite as enthused, expressing their distaste for the news through snarky Facebook comments and sad face emojis.

Although the expansion does pose some interesting logistical issues like handling the coming and going of thousands of revelers across two weekends on the property at Double JJ Ranch, the issue on most people’s minds is that the once intimate festival will 'no longer be what it used to be.' Despite some initial talk that the expansion would lead to smaller, more intimate events each weekend, protective Forest veterans are still up in arms. The ruffled feathers, while a little misplaced, are understandable.

Speaking from personal experience, Electric Forest is much more than a music festival. It can be a very special event that sticks with a person long after leaving, and opening that up to even more people than the 45,000+ people who already attend seems, at first glance, to cheapen the experience for some.

What many of the people who are upset about this news seem to be forgetting is one of the central ideas that makes Electric Forest so great — inclusion. Electric Forest is for everyone and everyone is welcome. Sure, spreading that experience out to another weekend does taste a little bit like “selling out,” but it’s not like it wasn’t sold out last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. That’s what happens with a great music festival—  it grows to allow more people to share the experience, and if more people can experience the Forest and take something special away like so many have before, we'd call that a win.

image: Electric Forest Festival