TREEFORT 2026 Will Include GEESE, Joe Pera, Go Kurosawa, Sessa, & More

Treefort is one of the country’s great music festivals. When we attended back in 2016, we experienced nothing but positivity. The performance spaces were spread throughout downtown Boise in various locations, ranging from local bars to an old Shriners’ Hall. Best of all, the energy is one of a town that actually welcomes attendees rather than some vapid corporate event that feels as if you’re invading a community that doesn’t want you there. In fact, among the official forts like Alefort, Filmfort, and the more recent Skatefort, we stumbled across more questionable setups with handmade signs. like “a random kid making crafts and/or selling lemonade fort.” Everybody wants to get in on the action. Save for particular signage and visible aspects like the mainstage, it might have been difficult for someone to know that Treefort 2016 was even occurring if they weren’t already aware of it. Everything is so integrated into the town, tucked away into participating buildings, shops, and makeshift venues. If you’re hungry or need something, the local businesses are there for festival attendees to patronize.

It’s fascinating to me how the festival hype dominated the music landscape so heavily at one point, only to deflate in recent years. Now that the smoke is starting to clear, the more independent productions tend to be the ones that are still standing, if not expanding. The lifeblood of such events is the communities that they’ve fostered, and I know people who prioritize Treefort as a yearly destination. If you think you hate festivals, I feel you 100%. For me, events like Pickathon, Big Ears, and Treefort are what I refer to as anti-festivals, because they nurture everything that a music festival could be by focusing on the art and curating an experience devoid of everything that grew my disdain for the more corporate standard format.

Originally created as a means to showcase local talent, Treefort is scheduled for late March, at a time when droves of artists return from SXSW. In ways, it is its own version, replicating aspects of the Austin tradition. But as SXSW becomes increasingly controversial and mutates in ways that feel antithetical to its once-projected ethos — allowing defense contractors a platform being one example — the Boise festival has evolved in much more positive and respectable ways. This year, they boast “over 180 artists from as far as Australia and as close as next door!” The programming also includes music talks, a podcasting element (podfort), child-friendly activities (kidfort), tech discussions (hackfort), a dragfort, a market, yogafort, and more. Along with the Comedyfort, there seems to be an increasing effort to showcase stand-up comedians in a more prominent way.

Today, the first wave of artists for TREEFORT 2026 has just been announced. At the top of the list are mainstage acts like Brooklyn rising stars, GEESE, and Los Angeles duo, Magdalena Bay, both known for their engaging live shows. Also getting respect at the top of the flyer are two of our favorite modern comedians, Joe Pera and Hannibal Burress. Perhaps you’re a Father John Misty fan and this is already enough to make you scoop a ticket, but we always recommend digging into the smaller font to see what gems it holds. If you do that here, you’ll find standouts like Brazilian artist, Sessa; Kikagaku Moya frontman and GURUGURU BRAIN label founder, Go Kurosawa; Bay Area shoegaze outfit, LSD And The Search For God; Vermont songwriter, Lily Seabird, who released a tremendous album this year and puts on an honest and electrifying live show; Canadian Youth Riot Records recording artist, Joe Passed; and Seattle‘s rockin’ good ttime favorites, Smoker Dad. There’s a big list here. You should scan through it.

Keep in mind that this is only the first wave of artists, and there are even more to come. Treefort is a wonderful event held in a city that truly embraces it. I’m excited to see who else gets tacked onto the roster between now and the festival.

For more details, updates, and tickets, visit Treefortmusicfest.com.