Music, it brings people together. I have had some of the best experiences at concerts and met some amazing people. For example, I met my best friend when I volunteered at Treefort 2 years ago, and just last year I met another cool friend, ironically by talking about rock music. That is when I was introduced to my favorite band, Mötley Crüe. There are so many cool experiences I have had involving music, I could go on forever! But, alas, that isn’t what this article is about. It’s about the biggest music festival in Boise—drum roll please—Treefort!!
This fun event started in 2012 and has grown so much over the years. Just look at the different forts they have: Alefort, Artfort, Comedyfort, Dragfort, Kidsfort, Filmfort, Foodfort, Podfort, Skatefort, Storyfort, and Hackfort. With so many sections in Treefort, there is bound to be something for you. Dragfort is drag shows, Kidfort is the kids section, and so on and so forth. For example, Dragfort mostly takes place at the Balcony Club which is a 21+ venue. There is a show for the younger drag fans that want to support our local queens and kings at Julia Davis Park at 4:50 pm on March 29th. Artfort is pretty self-explanatory: art shows and installations. Some murals are going to be shown at 1:30 pm at Julia Davis Park on Thursday, March 21st.
Treefort also has a volunteer program for ages 12-15 called the Cadet Program. Members of the Cadet Program help more on the sidelines, doing artist check-ins and trash pickups. They even do a photo tour. “I really enjoy volunteering at Treefort because you get to be so close to so many amazing artists and see the process they go through to perform at Treefort. You also get to meet so many amazing people and get some experience with working,” states Oliver Beserril. I have been a cadet for 2 years and decided not to this year. However, I talked to Eric Gilbert (one of the two creators of Treefort) about helping me learn more about show lighting, and he was very enthusiastic about helping me.
Treefort is a thriving community and, as a young woman who has gone to so many music festivals and concerts, I have felt the safest at the many Treefort events than I have at other music festivals. The people who put on Treefort do an amazing job at what they do, so why don’t you try it out?
