Guide to Treefort 2025
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Treefort Music Fest is next week! Holy moly it's that time of year. The annual music and arts festival is Wednesday, March 26 through Sunday, March 30. Today's story is a guide to Treefort 2025 with lots of lil tidbits for the newbies, the unsure people, and even the hardcore Treeforters. Let's start at the beginningThe story of Treefort goes back to 2011, when there was a big ol' hole in downtown Boise (aka the Boise Hole), the Red Room existed, Radio Boise just went on the airwaves, and people were camped outside of the County Courthouse as part of the Occupy Boise Movement.... what else was happening then? Anyway as the story goes, Treefort’s four founders – Eric Gilbert, Lori Shandro, Drew Larona, and Megan Stoll – met in the summer of 2011 and collectively envisioned a music fest that would play host to a bunch of regional and national emerging artists, while showcasing local bands and the potential to host cool events in downtown Boise. They brought on a few more community members and within 6 months the small group planned and organized the first ever Treefort Music Fest. The very first Treefort took place on March 22-25, 2012 in the Linen District of downtown Boise, with 137 artists playing shows in eight venues around the city. The Main Stage was in a parking lot on Grove Street, in between 12th & 13th Streets (where the new Broadstone Saratoga apartments are now). Alefort emerged as the first fort. More than 200 volunteers and dozens of downtown businesses helped pull it off, and a few thousands of fans were there to experience the experimental fest. It was a huge success and thus, the annual Treefort Music Fest was born. Over the following years, the fest has gained 13 forts, many more stages, and thousands of fans. Treefort has become known for being the place where you see a band before they "blow up" and get super popular and a fest where "the fans are bands and the bands are fans." Generations of kids have grown up Treeforting. Bands have met each other at the fest and gone on to form new bands and partner on tours. After celebrating its 10th festival in 2022, Treefort had to go through some significant changes. Since its inception, the Treefort Main Stage had been in that parking lot on Grove Street, and many of the surrounding stages and events were set up on Grove Street, in the parking lot of The Owyhee (which is now Hotel Renegade), and in empty spaces and the lobby of The Owyhee. Obviously Treefort had to find a new spot. In 2023, the festival moved the Main Stage, the Hideout Stage, Kidfort, Alefort, and some other things to Julia Davis Park. Which worked out well because that was the same year that Treefort Music Hall and Hap Hap Lounge opened, which are just up the street from the park. This year, Treefort will bring nearly 500 artists to 30 music venues, while the 13 forts of the fest bring a few hundreds more artists, speakers, chefs, and performers to 20 more venues throughout downtown Boise. Here's how to experience it. How to do Treefort 2025Get your pass or game planYou need a pass or a (loose) game plan. Your options for attending Treefort are:
Go for four or five daysIf you are going to Treefort for more than 3 days, the math says you should buy a full festival pass. You have three options for that:
These passes will get you into all events for all five days of Treefort (except for a few ticketed events like Foodfort dinners). This is the best option if you plan to go to Treefort for 3 or more days. Go for a day or twoBuy a single day pass and go to everything happening on that day. You could choose the day that works best for you and then swing into the free stuff on other days. Here's the prices: Go to the Main StageThe Main Stage is in Julia Davis park. You can easily spend all day at the park and the surrounding free stages. There is a section of the park that is totally free, where you can go to Alefort, Kidfort, and see music on the Bandshell. The other section of the park is wristband-only, meaning you will need a 5-day pass, single day pass, or a Main Stage pass to enter. Here's the Main Stage ticket prices:
Within this wristband section there's the Main Stage, the Hideout Stage, and Lookout Lounge (which is a private lounge area by Main Stage and requires an additional $194.34 ticket). So say you buy a Main Stage pass, you can see all shows on 7 different stages in one day. You could also buy a Main Stage ticket and combine it with free things to make a whole week or day of it. More on the free stuff below. Go for a showIf there is a show you want to see or want to hang with friends at a specific venue, you can buy a ticket to a specific venue. This is not available for all venues. You can buy a ticket to see all shows at these venues on the given day:
Go to an eventThere's a few events that are ticketed and you do not need a festival pass to go, only a ticket. Those events are:
Go to your fave fortYou can buy a Fort Badge to go to all events at your chosen fort. You could pair this with free shows and forts (see below) and have a packed schedule. Buying a Fort Badge allows you to go to all events at that fort for the whole week! Those options are: Different this year: In the past Yogafort has had its own badge but this year they have a few pop up experiences included with a 1-day or 5-day wristband. And if you have a Treefort wristband you can take yoga classes for free or discounted at several local studios. More info here. FreefortTreefort has multiple free forts, free stages, and "second chance shows" at bars and spaces around downtown. Most of these shows are all ages but I will note the ones that are 18+ or 21+. You can see shows for free at:
Forts you can go to for free:
Second: get the deetsHere's a few hawt tips: Download the app. That's the absolute best way to check out the lineup + schedule when you are down at the festival. You can see the schedule online too. Don't know any bands? Check out the Curated Schedules. They even have curated playlists you can listen to! If you are in a chair or festival-ing with someone who has a disability, peep the accessible venues. Wondering how to get around Treefort? There's a few options:
A few items to consider packing:
Treefort 2025 scheduleAaaand here's a big ol list of things I think you should check out! Wednesday, March 26
Thursday, March 27
Friday, March 28
Saturday, March 29
Sunday, March 30
Here is my schedule - it's a work in progress! I tend to like punk, hard rock, rap, ambient chillout stuff, and cumbia/Latin tunes. Ok that's all I got for ya! Thanks for reading and happy Treeforting! With love from Boise, Marissa
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From Boise
Every Tuesday, read a story about a person, place, piece of Boise history, or local happening. Every Thursday, get a huge list of things to do over the weekend. No news, no politics - just the fun stuff.