The 13th edition of Treefort Music Fest, the multi-day, multi-venue music festival is happening across downtown Boise this week.
With stages set up anywhere from Julia Davis park, to basements bars and street corners across town, the five-day music/yoga/podcast/comedy/food event is focused on more than just concerts.
“It's such a big choose your own adventure sort of experience,” said director Eric Gilbert, whose band Floating Witch’s Head played Treefort Music Hall on opening night. The festival showcases hundreds of events like drag performances, readings, food tastings, art exhibits, film showings ...and free options for the public.
While about 47% of attendees are out-of-towners, many of whom make a week of it, Gilbert emphasized that people don’t have to commit to the whole event to enjoy it. Anyone can pop in for free programming throughout the town.
“You have to be a certain creature to want to spend five days, on your feet going to multiple shows every single day from like noon until two in the morning,” Gilbert noted, adding the goal of the festival is to generate interest in all the town has to offer.
“The festival operates as a festival discovery, not just for artists, but also for the downtown businesses and the experience of Boise.”
According to the Boise Visitors Bureau, last year’s festival brought in an estimated $11.2 million and attracted 47,000 attendees. The festival will run until Sunday night.
The audio version of this story features music from the band Petal Party, who played at the Shrine Social Club on Wednesday, and Floating Witch’s Head.
