Treefort Overview

In full transparency, I am a hater of music festivals. Don’t get me wrong, I love dancing to and enjoying my favorite artists with others, but the general clusterfuck that comes along with festivals is a turn off to me. In my opinion, many mega-festivals are more about packing venues and price gouging attendees than coming together to appreciate music. Especially going to my first festival since the pandemic began and the moderate covid-induced agoraphobia I have developed, I had a lot of hesitation when Treefort invited KDUP to the festival. I walked into Treefort with a pre-conceived notion of how it would be; prepared for the subpar festival sets, obnoxious crowds, lawns covered in litter, and nearly criminal prices for food, drinks and merch that I have experienced at other festivals. However, Treefort was a more than pleasant surprise.  The festival felt more like a giant block party in downtown Boise with art, food, dancing, music and more on every block. It was a completely unique, surprising and captivating celebration of art, music, culture, and community that has changed my opinion of festivals. I will be attending again, and you should too. 

Treefort made its debut in the Boise scene in 2012 as a largely grassroots and community led festival with only 137 bands, 2 forts and 3,000 attendees. It was such a massive success that the following year, tickets sold out in just 17 minutes. Currently, Treefort averages 30,000 attendees and graciously hosts over 400 artists and 12 forts every single year. Unlike many large festivals, Treefort is centered around smaller bands and local artists rather than recycling the same big names and lineup as Coachella, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, etc. They strive to be a big festival for smaller artists, which was one of the best parts to me. I got to see some of my bucket list bands perform and was also introduced to so many new favorites, including Prism Bitch, Future Crib, and Habibi. This year’s headliners included Japanese Breakfast, J. Worra, Vundabar, Andy Shauf, and literally hundreds more. It’s more than just music, Treefort offers experiences of all kinds that tell Boise’s story. This year, everyone could find something that piqued their interest amongst dragfort, alefort, storyfort, comedyfort, artfort, skatefort, yogafort, kidfort, hackfort, filmfort, and the numerous music stages.

There is a coziness to the festival, for lack of a better term. There is a relaxed feeling amongst the festival and it’s attendees. Most bands and events occur multiple times throughout the 5 day festival, so there is always another opportunity to attend later if you stumble upon something exciting (which is inevitable at Treefort). There is something engaging and magical happening at every turn, whether it be a horror puppet show in a church, live street murals, bands performing in the street, or people dressed as giant eyeballs roller skating through the crowd. You may find yourself at a show in Guru donuts, a skate park, The Record Exchange shop, El Korah Shrine temple, a park, or one of Boise’s numerous quirky bars. For example, on Saturday night, I started out the evening seeing Y La Bamba perform and watched a parade of animatronic praying mantises roll through the street on my way to the Worn Tin show in the park. I then found myself at the Eleganza Extravaganza drag show, followed by Gary V’s set while I played pinball at the Spacebar arcade. We then stumbled upon a roller disco in the Grove Plaza, went to a rave at the mainstage that featured acrobats from the Boise Circus Guild, and ended the night dancing to Joshy Soul in a Shriner temple. The next morning, we woke up to drag brunch at alefort where we recovered from the shenanigans of the last 4 days with locally crafted beers, breakfast from neighboring restaurants, and watching Boise’s stunning drag queens perform. You may never know where Treefort will take you, but trust me, it will be nothing short of incredible.  It is truly more than your typical festival, it brings people together to celebrate music, food, art of many mediums, and one another.

The festival’s slogan is “Treefort is for everyone” and they live up to that. People of every age, background, and interest were in attendance. There was a sense of connection between folks in the crowd, but also between fans and artists. Unlike a lot of big festivals, there is no VIP area for artists. You’ll run into your favorite bands on the street, dance with them at shows, or attend a mushroom foraging talk with them, like I did with Haley Hendrickx. Treefort also makes it possible so that anyone who wants to go can. They have over 1,000 volunteers who trade 9 hours of their time for a free pass to the festival. They make it so that everyone can find a place where they feel welcomed, connected, and have the resources to attend. Whether you are performing, attending, or volunteering, everyone is along to enjoy the music, art, and good company. 

Not only does Treefort throw Boise’s biggest party, but I was impressed at how much they care about the community long after it’s over. They aim to leave a big impact on attendees and minimize the festival’s negative impact on the environment and the residents of Boise. This year, Treefort offered a free covid vaccination station for anyone who wanted one. They also partner with many local organizations such as the Boise Bike Project, Boise Hive, and the Snake River Alliance. They  put sustainability at the core of everything they do and make every year more eco-friendly than the last. They make green transportation to the festival available by making the Valley Regional Bus free, providing bike racks, and making events within walking distance of one another. They offer little to no single use plastic products, so attendees can either purchase, rent, or bring their own aluminum cup for drinks. They also do not sell plastic water bottles, instead free reusable bottles and metal straws are available at sponsor booths. The city life is also minimally disrupted by Treefort as shows are held in existing spaces around Boise and the construction of stages is minimal. This purpose-driven festival model is an outlier compared to other big music festivals, which often are incredibly wasteful, disruptive and disconnected from the places they’re held after the festival ends. 

Treefort Music Festival is an absolute gem. It’s damn near impossible to have a bad time when you’re singing, eating, roller skating and dancing through the streets of Idaho’s capital with a backdrop of the Boise mountain range. If you thought your festival days were behind you like I did, I dare you to go to Treefort 2022 and tell me how you feel after. Boise is bursting with incredible artists, performers, musicians, nature, and venues that you are missing out on. I think I can speak on behalf of all of KDUP, but I am incredibly grateful to the organizers of Treefort for inviting us there and making us feel welcomed and inspired. I left the festival with new experiences, new favorite artists, a tattoo from tattoofort (oops), and a deep reverence for the city of Boise. You watch the city come alive over 5 days in a way I have never seen before. You will not be disappointed and you certainly will not leave without a new favorite band. Treefort really is for everyone and I hope to see you there next year.

Special thanks to Catherine, for writing the first in a series of Treefort articles by KDUP staff, with new posts coming each week. Also a huge thanks to our readers! Our website is currently undergoing a revamp and we appreciate your patience during this time of transition.

October 29th, 2021