Rothbury Replacement’s Permit Problem

The Rothbury Festival that took place at the Double JJ Resort in western Michigan in 2008 and 2009 is back with a new name and a new producer but local officials apparently aren’t so clear on the details.

Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events recently announced the inaugural Electric Forest festival will make its debut June 30 to July 3 with a lineup that includes The String Cheese Incident, Tiësto, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Stephen Marley and Kaskade, among others.

The event, which was previously produced by MHP and AEG Live, is also rolling out a new element this year with a “Saturday Afternoon Special” festival within the festival that’s slated to feature REO Speedwagon.

Still, officials in Grant Township told the local White Lake Beacon May 11 that they had not received a permit application for the four-day event.

“We’ve been getting all this information from the outside; nothing from Madison House,” Grant Township Supervisor Roger Schmidt told the paper.

He added that promoters have already contacted police and the local health department but said that, without a mass gathering permit, it is unclear how long such a large-scale event would be allowed to run and how many tickets could be sold to Electric Forest. Organizers could also reportedly be subject to civil infractions for any incidents that occurred without a permit.

But all is not lost. Schmidt said there is still time in June to schedule a public hearing to approve the event and said he expects to have the permit application in hand in the “next couple weeks.”