The Regrettes on the main stage | Photo by Amanda Morgan, courtesy of Treefort Music Fest
It’s about 9 pm on a weeknight in March, the weather in Boise is how you always hope springtime to be but it never is, and the excellent indie rock band Snail Mail just played a headlining set at Treefort Music Fest. The group definitely made me tear up by closing with “Pristine,” but exiting the show, I found myself getting even more emotional at the sight of the mountains that surround Boise as I meandered through the city, heading from one concert to the next. I continued to feel that sense of elation from all of the live music and the energy pulsing through the City of Trees that night, the next, and the two after that, because Treefort truly feels like a one-of-a-kind experience, transforming Boise, Idaho into a very special indie music lovers’ haven every spring.
At a time when a lot of music festivals feel the same, Treefort has managed to organically create a unique event. Sure, it’s hard to have a bad time when you’re seeing a weekend of live music, and plenty of festivals have eclectic lineups or are held in incredible settings, but many (especially corporate-owned ones) can feel impersonal and lack that something that makes them different. Treefort, by default, stands out—it’s a community-organized event with a mission to prioritize discovery and uplift its local Boise and Pacific Northwest creative communities.
This year, Treefort celebrated its 10th anniversary—arriving just six months after its belated COVID iteration, which was held in September 2021—bringing 470 bands to Boise from Wednesday, March 23-Sunday, March 27 to play at its main stage and venues across the city. The festival also curated experiences and talks from other spaces, such as drag, film, food, yoga, and more, to fill out the weekend and highlight everything happening in the area.
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