Future Forest Set For Sixth Big Year

New Brunswick electronic music festival to welcome more than 140 musicians to Albrights Corner for sixth annual event.

Matt Carter

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Of the many New Brunswick music festivals that take place across the province each summer, few offer as unique an experience as Future Forest. The annual event, now entering its sixth year of programming, focuses primarily on electronic music, pairing top knotch DJs and occasional bands with the latest sound and projection video mapping technology to create a festival experience unlike any other in the province.

Tucked away in the woods off Route 10 near Minto (Albright’s corner to be exact), this year’s festival promises to expand upon the many defining elements that set Future Forest apart from other summer music festivals happening in the province with more performers, a family campsite, yoga and art workshops.

“We have more headliners than ever this year,” said festival founder Tim Kukula, “including a lot of new talent that we haven’t seen before.”

This year’s lineup involves more than 140 musicians including performances by Plantrae , Mat the Alien , Marten Horger , Dimond Saints , Astronomar , Alexi Delano , Misstress Barbara , Yheti , Joe Nice , Esseks , DMVU , Anna Morgan , Antennae , Alex Stein, Weak Size Fish and many more.

Originally set near the Mactaquac headpond, the first event was put together as a fundraiser for a close friend battling cancer. After a few years at their original location, organizers decided to relocate the festival following a series of noise complaints that plagued the event’s first several years.

“The first event was a very successful fundraiser for our dear friend Jay Hamilton when he was diagnosed with cancer,” said Kukula. “The next year we were hit with a tropical storm and had over 140mm of rain on the Friday. Even though we didn’t sell as many tickets as we had planned, it was still successful and everyone had a great time.”

Last year Future Forest purchased land in Albrights Corner establishing a permanent home for their event. The 2018 edition will mark the second year in a row at this new location.

“We had issues with noise complaints at our old location and it was a struggle every year,” said Kukula. “This move has allowed us to focus on the festival experience. We are expanding our venue, improving the camping area, creating a yoga village, adding family camping and have even more artists joining us this year.”

Kukula is thankful for the community of festival organizers that exists within the province for their support and encouragement during the relocation process. Moving an event of this size from one location to another could easily have resulted in numerous complications but thanks to the help received from others in the industry, the future of Future Forest remains full of possibility.

“Last year was a big year for us because we changed locations,” said Kukula. “It was a learning curve and almost like a brand new festival in respect to the organization of it. We’ve had a lot of support from the festival community and wouldn’t be here without them. There’s definitely a community but it’s not just for organizers. It’s everyone that is involved with our festival. We have countless volunteers and staff that all come together to create the experience together.”