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Treefort 10: The 2022 spring festival prepares to wrap up

Treefort Music Fest began in 2012 to showcase Boise's local music and arts community, but it also brought some out-of-town bands and artists to the Gem State.

BOISE, Idaho — The tenth-year of the Treefort Music Fest comes to a conclusion Sunday night, but the traffic brought to local, downtown businesses is still paying off.

The Treefort Music Fest began in 2012 to showcase Boise's local music and arts community, but it also brought some out-of-town bands and artists to the Gem State.

A decade ago, few options existed for local Boise artists to showcase their talents, according to Treefort Music Fest co-founder and director Eric Gilbert.

“For the creative scene here, sometimes it's hard to be seen from the national scene,” Gilbert said. “Touring the country, everyone was like, ‘where's Idaho? Is there even music there?’"

The festival has continued to focus on independent and emerging national, regional and local artists in a wide range of musical genres.

This year's lineup included more than 520 artists from 37 U.S. states and 19 different countries.

The five-day event featured a large Main Stage area at 12th and Grove streets, with performances also scattered throughout downtown at venues including El Korah Shrine, Lost Grove Brewing, Neurolux, the District, the Boise Masonic Temple, and the Basque Center. 

The festival also included other "forts" like Artfort, Storyfort, Yogafort, Skatefort, Alefort and other events all festival long.

There were a total of 11 different forts, all hosting unique experiences. It is a change Gilbert did not anticipate when he first started the festival a decade ago.

Gilbert also did not anticipate the scale and size of which Treefort has grown into today. 

More than 25,000 people attended the festival in 2019, according to Treefort organizers. However, attendance for the 2021 fall festival saw a decline in attendance, with just over 15,000 attendees.

Despite its growth, Treefort's mission remains the same; to give the local creative scene some recognition that Gilbert believes the area has always deserved.

“We're the most isolated metropolitan area in the lower 48 states,” Gilbert said. “I know for a fact when bands leave here they're like, ‘oh you're from Boise? I hear there's a really great music and art scene there.’ I think we have accomplished that to some degree.”

Treefort Music Fest was recognized in 2015-2017 as the Cultural Ambassador for the City of Boise.

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