In partnership with Tamarack Resort

Got plans for Labor Day weekend? Here’s an idea: head up to Tamarack Resort for the third annual Bikes, Brews & Bluegrass Festival on Sunday, September 3!

Spend an afternoon on the mountain tasting local beers, listening to live bluegrass bands, and shopping the end of season bike & retail sale. Your ticket gets you a commemorative tasting mug and five tokens for tasting. It’s family-friendly, too!

Get your tix for Bikes, Brews & Bluegrass at Tamarack Resort!

Spirit of Boise Balloon Fest

The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic is in full swing! Here's the launch schedule for the rest of the weekend:

Fri Sept 1: Tribute launch to Larry Gebert at 7:10am, then all balloons will be launch by 7:20am. The Nite Glow Spectacular is at 8:05pm, but there will be vendors, food trucks and live music at the park starting at 5:30pm.
Sat Sept 2: Dawn Patrol, balloons inflate and launch around 6am.
Sun Sept 3: Final day! Balloons inflate and launch around 6am.

Alsoo the next BFF meetup is a Balloon & Coffee Hang happening tomorrow, Friday Sept 1 at 7am. Join us!

Hermit Music Fest

Th Aug 31 - Mon Sept 4: Hermit Music Fest is happening at Indian Creek Winery in Kuna and in Boise. If you’ve never been, Hermit Music Fest is a high-class low-key musical extravaganza featuring national, regional, and local acts in an immersive park-like setting. The focus is on old time, blues, and American roots music.

Here's the festival schedule:

TONIGHT: Hermit Ripper at Barbarian Brewing Downtown. There’s 6 bands playing from 6-9pm. It’s free, 21+
Fri Sept 1: Hermit Kick Off Party at The Modern Hotel from 4-10:15pm. It’s free with a hermit wristband or $10 at the door. There’s 13 bands playing in the parking lot and the Modern has festival-friendly food and drinks to enjoy.
Fri Sept 1: Hermit Late Nighter at Shrine Social Club starting at 9pm. There’s five bands playing here, it’s in the Shrine Basement and those shows are free with a festival wristband or $10 at the door, and the shrine shows are all ages.
Fri Sept 1: Hermit After Hours is happening at Pengilly's starting at 9pm, there’s two bands there. It’s free and 21+.
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Hermit Fest at Indian Creek Winery. There's a bunch of cool workshops happening from 10am-12pm each day. Music starts at 11am both days and goes all day and night, until late.
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Hermit Fest Brunch at The Modern Bar & Restaurant. There’s two bands playing from 11am-2pm and they are serving a special brunch menu. It's free!
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Hermit Fest Happy Hour at The Modern Bar. There’s music from 4:30-6:30pm and the HH deal is 20% of festival craft & NA cocktails from the bar. It's free to attend!
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Hermit Parking Lot Show is happening in The Modern’s parking lot from 7-9pm. Several bands playing, food and drinks available. Free to attend.
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Hermit Courtyard Social at The Modern Patio - a free, all ages jam sesh. Bring your instrument!
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Hermit After Hours at Pengillys there’s a hermit fest band playing there that night. Starts at 9pm. 21+
Mon Sept 4: Hermit Fest Labor Day Songwriter Showcase is happening 11am-5pm at The Modern in the parking lot. There’s 12 artists playing throughout the day, it’s open to all ages and free with a festival wristband or $10 at the door.

Tix to Hermit Music Fest are $100 for the full weekend, $85 for the full weekend for teens (age 14-18) and seniors (age 60+), kids under age 14 are free. You can also get a day pass for Saturday or Sunday for $65.

Getting to/from Hermit Music Fest:

There’s a shuttle to/from The Modern Hotel that is $16 round trip. It leaves at 10am and returns at 10pm.
There’s overnight camping available at Indian Creek Winery as well but those are sold out at this point. Keep in mind for next year.
The Modern has a hotel package for the festival, you book your room using promo code HERMIT and you get 20% off two festival passes and two shuttle passes to and from the winery on Saturday and Sunday. Good deal!

More info on Hermit Music Fest here. I also talked about it in depth on today's podcast episode.

Dock Dogs

Sat-Mon Sept 2-4: Dock Dogs is happening at Treasure Valley Subaru in Nampa (5605 E Gate Blvd. Nampa). It's canine aquatics competition where dogs show us their best jumping skills and fly through the air into a big pool. The events begin at 9am each day and there’s also pet vendors. You are welcome to bring your dog to the event & you can register your pup to compete, too!

Pop up theatre performance

Th-next Sun Aug 31-Sept 10: This weekend and next weekend, The Boise Bard Players are performing The Importance of Being Earnest. The Boise Bard Players is a mobile, minimalist theater company that performs Shakespeare and other classics at unconventional locations all over the Treasure Valley.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a “trivial comedy for serious people” play by Oscar Wilde. It’s the group’s first non-Shakespeare classic! There’s two weekends and multiple locations to catch the performance. Here's the schedule:

Th Aug 31: The Bishops’ House at 7pm. Sold out!
Fri Sept 1: Star Riverhouse at 7 pm. Tix are $20.
Sat Sept 2: Nampa Valley Grange at 7pm. Tix are $20.
Sun Sept 3: Carl Miller Park in Mountain Home at 2pm. Free!
Th Sept 7: The Bishops’ House at 7pm. Sold out!
Fri-Sat Sept 8-9: Watson’s Mystery Cafe at 7pm. Tix are $20.
Sun Sept 10: Watson’s Mystery Cafe at 2pm. Tix are $20.

Float season ending soon

Float season is coming to an end :(

Mon Sept 4: Floater services (shuttle + rentals) ends Monday, Sept 4. You can still float the river after that, but you will need to coordinate your own shuttle and bring your own raft/tube and pump. More info at floattheboise.org

In partnership with Visit Southwest Idaho

Out of Town Tip

Have you ever been to Starlight Mountain Theatre?

It's an outdoor theater in Garden Valley right on the bank of the Payette River. This weekend is the classic whodunnit, Clue, and it's the final performance of the 2023 season.

Garden Valley is one of my favorite areas to camp. You can camp onsite at Starlight Mountain Theatre, camp nearby at Riverpond Campground or Middle Fork Campground, or get an airbnb for a few days. Go visit Garden Valley & Starlight Mountain Theatre sometime - you won’t regret it!

Learn more about visiting Garden Valley & Crouch here!

PS Did you know we do an "out of town tip" in every Thursday podcast episode? Tune in for weekly road trip inspo!

Tunes & shows

TONIGHT: Bill Coffey & His Cash Money Cousins at Idaho Botanical Garden
TONIGHT: The Beach Boys at Morrison Center
TONIGHT: Jeff Engelbert Band at Heritage Park
Fri Sept 1: Taylor Swift Party at Knitting Factory
Fri Sept 1: Darrell Scott at VAC
Sat Sept 2: Street Fever + Pictureplane + Holy Throne + Light Screen + Phunktion at Treefort Music Hall
Sat Sept 2: Snuffed On Sight + Swarm Beating + Texas Ketamine at The Shredder
Sat Sept 2: Emo Nite at Knitting Factory
Sun Sept 3: Bryce Vine at Knitting Factory
Sun Sept 3: Chicago at Idaho Botanical Garden
Sun Sept 3: Boise Baroque Orchestra at Chateau des Fleurs
Sun Sept 3: Reggaeton Night at Buffalo Club
Mon Sept 4: Pixies + Modest Mouse + Cat Power at Idaho Botanical Garden
Mon Sept 4: Pyrex + Blix + Vermillion Sun at CRLB
Tue Sept 5: Krooked Kings + Kipper Snack at The Shredder
Tue Sept 5: Jungle Brothers + E&J (Eleven & Jason D) + Madisun Proof at Treefort Music Hall
Tue Sept 5: Sean Hatton Band + Emma El'Lynne at JUMP

Comedy & storytelling

Fri Sept 1: Comedians LJ Sullivan + Tyson Gusman + Kris Sharma are at Karuna Kava for a stand up show at 7pm. It's free!
Fri Sept 1: Improv Insanity, an adults only improv show, is happening at Watson's at 8pm. Tix are $15 online, $20 at the door, or $45 for dinner and the show. 18+
Weekly comedy open mics: Mondays at Mad Swede (Cole Road), sign ups 7:30pm/start 8pm. Tuesdays at Hops & Bottles at 6:30pm. Thursdays at Mad Swede (Downtown), online sign ups, starts at 8pm. Saturday at Mad Swede (Downtown), sign ups 10:30pm, start 11pm.

Food finds & things to drink

New beer news: Barbarian Brewing is releasing a glitter sour beer called Unicorns & Rainbows on Thursday. Payette Brewing is releasing an Oktoberfest Märzen Style Lager on Friday.
Also did you see that Kimset is selling their food truck & catering equipment?!
Tue Sept 5: Telaya Wine Co is doing a Beer & Wine Dinner with Terroir and Barbarian Brewing. Enjoy five courses paired with beer or wine. It starts at 6pm and tix are $95.
Next Th Sept 7: Make Macarons from Scratch at Idawild Brewing Co. It's $55 and includes all materials and instruction. 21+
Next Th Sept 7: Koenig Distillery Whiskey Cocktail Class is happening at Koenig Distillery. It's peach-themed! Learn how to make 2 cocktails and you get to take all of your tools home! Tix are $70. 21+

Things to do

Want to learn Euskara? The Basque Museum has several levels of adult language classes starting soon. It's a 12-week course for $175 and they have scholarships available.
Call to artists: The City of Boise Arts & History opened applications for the opportunity to create or supply artwork for the 2024 Traffic Box Program. You get your art on a traffic box and $1,000 to fund your creation. Deadline to apply is Wed Sept 27. More info here.
Sat-Sun Sept 2-3: Party At The Pen Motorcycle Show is happening at the Old Pen from 10am-5:30pm on Saturday and 9am-4pm on Sunday. It's a vintage motorcycle show with live music, a tattoo artist, tintype photographer, vendors, food & drinks. Tix are $20 each day.
Sun Sept 3: Join Board Games & Brunch at Meriwether Cider in Garden City. Board games are free to play while you enjoy a cidermosa and Waffleology. Starts at 10am.
Tue Sept 5: Meridian Night Market is happening at Frontier Park (21+) and Hidden Gem Events (all ages). Go shop for books, art, jewelry, artisan goods, treats & more. It's free!

BFFs only

I need your help

During the month of October, I like to have all spooky stories for the Tuesday newsletter. I need some ideas! What is your favorite Boise scary story? What's a local urban legend? What is something super creepy that happened here? What do you want to know about celebrating Halloween in Boise? Let me know!!

Here's what we have written about in the past: