Thirteen years after the amps were plugged in for the first Treefort Music Fest show, the five-day festival has become the de facto commencement of Boise life post-winter. Even if it’s muddy (or even snowing), Boise shows up for its biggest annual cultural event. And if you don’t want to fork over money for a full pass, there are still plenty of ways to join the celebrations.
💸 Cutting Costs at Treefort
Check out the page for Treefort tickets and don’t freak out when you see the nearly $400 price tag. Any festival-goer will tell you that’s not a terrible price, and the beauty of Treefort is that the entire city opens up for this event, unlike so many big festivals with a closed-off feel.
My two best recommendations for getting a chance to see some of the biggest moments of the week are to either buy a single day pass ($160, which will get you into as many shows and events as you can rally for) or a Treefort Music Hall pass for $50.
The single day pass will get you into pretty much everything except special, ticketed events through other forts.
Yet other forts (as in Storyfort, Podfort, etc.: non-musical events) are also your best bet for saving money while partaking in Treefort, because the majority — if not all — of their program is completely free.
🚲 Transportation and Parking for Main Stage
If you’d like to brave the parking lots in Julia Davis Park, best of luck to you! But especially if you’re going during peak hours, I’d recommend only journeying into the park via car for a quick dropoff. Otherwise, especially if you’re trying to get to the main stage, your most consistent bet will be biting the bullet for a downtown parking garage spot.
Driving and parking will be mayhem at peak hours, so the best plan for a majority of festival goers is going car-free. The new location (this will be the third festival at Julia Davis) brings the cornucopia closer to one of Boise’s best amenities: the Greenbelt.
If you’re going with a group of people, see if you can use the place of whoever lives closest to the park as a home base. From there, you can make the journey to the main stage and run into everyone you know along the way.
💡 Know ahead: It’s well worth it to buy, borrow or even rent a bike, scooter, skateboard, or roller blades/skates to get around if you don’t already have them. Your feet will thank you!
Also, catch the Treeline bus, a partnership between the festival and Valley Regional Transit. Several readers have said that their most memorable Treefort shows have been on those buses.
