Electric Forest Festival Under Investigation After Baby Found in Porta Potty
"Electric Forest should never happen again after that."
Published June 29 2026, 10:57 a.m. ET
Electric Forest, an annual music festival that focuses on electronic music and jam bands, ended on a terrible note over the weekend.
The festival, which ran from June 25 to 28, saw tens of thousands of attendees forced to evacuate on the final night amid a weather warning, and, tragically, a newborn baby was found dead in a portable toilet.
Electric Forest 2026 saw a weather evacuation on its final night
On the final night of Electric Forest, an evacuation order was issued at around 8:45 p.m. just as headliner GRiZ began his performance. The order came after radar picked up a series of storms crossing Lake Michigan and heading for the area. Festivalgoers were encouraged to leave the grounds and seek shelter.
It wasn't until 1:43 a.m. that the venue gates were reopened, with music stopping at 3 a.m.
Later, a deceased newborn baby was discovered in one of the festival's porta-potties.
While the evacuation order was an inconvenience at worst, a far more horrifying event would occur at Electric Forest on Sunday. According to CBS News, Michigan State Police were called to the festival after a worker discovered the body of a newborn baby in a portable restroom.
According to police, the baby "was discovered by an employee of the restroom vending company during routine maintenance," and was found in the camping area of the festival.
Police appealed for information, adding: “If you were in the area and observed anything unusual, or if you have information that you believe may be relevant, we encourage you to come forward. We appreciate the public’s cooperation and ask that people avoid speculation on social media out of respect for the investigation and those affected.”
On their Facebook page, the event's organizers added: "Forest Family, it causes us so much pain to have to share this difficult news with you. Michigan State Police continues to investigate this tragic event if you can assist in any way. HQ is heartbroken and knows that our Forest Family is as well."
The horrific news sparked outrage online, with one user writing: "Not exaggerating Electric Forest should never happen again after that."
While another added: "Ya'll cannot blame a music festival for the f----d up disgusting act of one of the attendees. It's absolutely disgusting and foul what happened, but there is not one single thing Electric Forest could've done in this situation."