In 2012 musician Eric Gilbert teamed up with three business partners to create Treefort Music Fest, a weeklong festival that placed participating artists and the Boise community of Boise, ID firmly at its heart. Treefort quickly became one of the West’s leading music festivals, beloved by musicians, audiences and Idahoans alike. The community gradually expanded the Fest’s cultural offerings, and by 2019 a ticketholder could enjoy not only hearing 437 bands in 37 venues but also seeing and/or participating in nine so-called forts, such as Hackfort, Dragfort and Kidfort.

In this interview with Pier Carlo Talenti, Eric discusses how years of touring as a musician trained him to develop and curate his vision for Treefort. That time in the trenches also gave him the inner resources to be nimble and brave enough to lead and nurture artists and the community when Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 Fest just two weeks before it was set to start.

https://www.treefortmusicfest.com/

https://finnriggins.bandcamp.com/