The 2025 edition of the Treefort Music Fest opens today all across the downtown corridor of Boise, Idaho. Over 50 venues will be hosting live music and serving up plenty of libations over the next five days from March 26 – 30.
Then come Thursday when Julia Davis Park opens up to Treefort, Alefort will make its return for 2025 over the course of of four days. On tap will be a plethora of beers from over 50 local, regional, and even international breweries! No matter your interest in beer, there are surely a few offerings that will whet your whistle during Treefort!
The brewery list is coming together and will be quite strong. Ryan Driscoll from PreFunk Beer Bar will once again be curating the beers being served at Alefort this upcoming weekend that includes a few special releases just for the annual festival.
“This will be my sixth year, and I just handle the beer side of the fest,” said Ryan. “I work with the amazing Molly Leadbetter (owner/operator of Meriwether Ciders) who handles the cider aspect, and Jackie Elo (Sales Person Extraordinaire from Amphora, a local wine distributor) to round out the libations for the fest and make it great!”
Ryan and his wife Heather became involved with Alefort about six years ago. The two have been operating PreFunk Beer Bar in nearby Nampa, Idaho and felt the need to be part of the overall Treefort experience.
“My wife Heather and I were approached by David Roberts (the general manager of Bittercreek Alehouse) six years ago as Alefort (and Treefort as well) was getting bigger,” stated Ryan. “He was looking to expand his team as the logistics were becoming more complex, and as the owners and operators of PreFunk Beer Bar here in Nampa, we were at the top of his list!”
Alefort itself will take place from Thursday, March 27 through Sunday, March 30 inside Julia Davis Park. It is free to attend as there is no need for a Treefort wristband, but the beer does taste better if you are wearing one!
To partake in Alefort, attendees will need a steel cup or Alefort taster cup. These can also be purchased inside at Alefort. Tokens are $3.75 each and are required to purchase tasters or full pours at Alefort. Tasters will be 1-5 tokens, depending on the rarity or specialness of the pour. From there one can wonder over to the free Gene Harris Bandshell to take in some great music.
Inside, the layout at Alefort is all done by beer styles and not by brewery. This makes it easier to try a style you enjoy or discover a new one.
“Our four bars are Light & Crispy, Hoppy, Dark & Malty, and Tart & Funky from breweries near and far,” said Ryan. “There is also a separate Cider bar and Wine bar incorporated into the beer bars, making it easy to explore something new. Arranging it like a tap house takes a little more heavy lifting on our team’s end, but it makes it so much easier to find something you are interested in!”
For 2025, Ryan made a conscientious effort to bring together various breweries for new beers to debut at Alefort. Even a few are Alefort specific collaboration beers among breweries.
“One of my major undertakings this year was to reach out to breweries late last year and work with them to create a beer to be released at Alefort,” said Ryan. “Out of the 43 breweries involved i managed to get 17 of the participating breweries involved! Pretty much all of them are lagers and IPAs. I won’t list all of them (gotta come down to see what we got), but a couple of them will be a hazy IPA from Mothers Earth called Krush Me Baby One More Time, and an Imperial WC IPA from Grand Teton called Greenbelt, and a Czech style pale lager from Recluse called Tree Goblin!”
Ryan continued, “For Treefort overall, Bert’s Brewing is the major beer sponsor, and they will be releasing a hazy pale ale available only at the fest called Pure Imagination!”
Alefort 2025 Brewery List:
Fort George & Barbarian Blanket Fort Hazy IPA Collaboration
Odell Brewing
Trap Door Brewing
Bale Breaker Brewing Co.
Mother Earth Brew Co.
Lost Grove Brewing
Threshold Brewing
Boise Brewing
Barley Brown’s
Grand Teton
Highlander
Foreland Beer
Fremont Brewing
Sunriver Brewing
Lumberbeard & Mother Earth Collab
Vice Beer
Aslan Brewing
Prost
pFriem Family Brewers
Recluse
Woodland Empire
Sierra Nevada
Bear Island
Huyghe Brewing
Bert’s Brewing
Bear Island, Boise Beer Buddies, & Bar Gernika Collab
Breakside Brewery
Firestone Walker Brewing
Payette Brewing
By All Means
Alliteration Ales
Sockeye Brewing
Rogue Ales
Mad Swede Brewing
Ayinger
Monkless
Matchless Brewing
Prairie
Barbarian Brewing
Cascade Brewing
Boochcraft
Great Notion Brewing
Boise Booch
New this year, Alefort is offering a Chuggy Bar. Living up to its name, Chuggy Bar will showcase a variety of light, sessionable pours so you can chug one or two down before catching your next band at the nearby Gene Harris Bandshell, Main Stage, Hideout Stage or downtown. In addition to the Chuggy Bar, Alefort will also be home to other beer bars so Treeforters can sample a variety of beer, all by style. There’ll be a Light & Crsipy, Dark & Malty, Hoppy, Tart & Funky, and Barrel-Aged!
But even though Ale is in the name, Alefort also showcases ciders and wine and a Zero Proof bar to sample new N/A options. This year’s Cider Bar will be serving up local and regional ciders to enjoy throughout the fest! Plus, back this year is the infamous Treefort Txotx!
This historic Basque tradition is the best way to experience cider during the fest. Cheers with your pals and make new friends during this lively event with Basque dancers, freshly made paella, and taste loads of cider literally shooting out of their barrels! Look for this on Saturday, March 29 from 1:00 – 3:00pm, 4:00 – 6:00pm, and 7:00 – 9:00pm.
If you’re looking for some local craft beer options outside of Julia Davis Park, there are plenty of options, including a few breweries with music stages! You can grab a local brew while discovering some great music at Boise Brewing, Lost Grove Brewing, and Payette Brewing.
Then on Saturday, March 29th, American Standard Time and Barbarian Downtown Beer Bar are hosting a free Treefort Music Fest Second Chance Showcase! Music starts at 1:00pm with five killer bands and no Treefort wristband required, but you should already have one anyway.
1:50 – Matt Mitchell Music Co. (Spokane/Portland )
2:40- Maita (Portland)
3:40 – Ryan Curtis Band (Boise)
4:40 – Desolation Horse (Moscow)
The AST Showcase will be held at the Barbarian Brewing Downtown Beer Bar located at 1022 W Main Street in Boise and is open to those 21 years of age or older.
To find more info on Alefort and Treefort, visit treefortmusicfest.com.
Alefort at Julia Davis Park – 700 S Capitol Blvd – Boise, ID
