I’ve admired Treefort for a while now, but I hadn’t been able to go. If my memory serves me right, my first year working for KDUP in 2021 was the first year we as an organization have been invited to Treefort. Having seen multiple KDUP staffs go to this festival, last year I finally told myself that I needed to experience it for myself. So, finally this year I chose to join the other KDUP staff at Treefort 2024.
Treefort is so much more than just a music festival. Located in downtown Boise, the festival hosts a large variety of events in what it calls “forts,” including Alefort, Artfort, Comedyfort, Dragfort, Filmfort, Foodfort, Hackfort, Kidfort, Music Talks, Podfort, Skatefort, Storyfort, and Yogafort. The various stages and forts take place all across Boise’s downtown, from the park to the convention center to bars and breweries. With all the different artists, venues, and forts, it truly feels like there is something for everyone at Treefort.
Going into the festival, I had a goal to visit at least one event from every fort. And I hit a lot of them! Alefort boasted beers from over 50 different breweries. I got to attend a few really insightful Music Talks panels from industry professionals. Hackfort introduced me to the Boise State Esports team, which let me tour their arena. I also visited Filmfort, Podfort, Artfort, and Storyfort. But I still missed out on some KDUP staff favorites from previous years, including Yogafort, Dragfort, and Comedyfort.
But even with all of the different forts, music is still the heart of Treefort. Artists came from all over to perform at this festival, from headliners like Briston Maroney and Channel Tres to artists playing acoustic sets on the buses transporting Treefort attendees from venue to venue. To be honest, the only artists I had personally heard of before coming to Treefort were Briston Maroney and The National Parks. So, the musicians I saw were mostly recommendations from others at the festival, artists my coworkers wanted to see, or artists that I found simply by walking between venues. Some highlights included Built To Spill, Bermuda Search Party, Jesus Christ Taxi Driver, Channel Tres, Liv Victorino, The National Parks, Dadi Freyr, and Neko Case, to name a few. There were so many good acts playing at the same time that I often had a hard time making a decision where to go.
All in all, Treefort is an absolute blast of an experience that is incredibly hard to to sum up in a short article. If you ever get the chance to visit Boise for this festival, I can’t recommend it enough.