A two-day music festival with 20 regional performers that incorporates outdoor recreation education and is nestled on the South Fork of the Snake River to take place later this month.
The first inaugural South Fork Fest, which evolved out of a semi-private party among artists of the same collective record label, will meld outdoor recreation workshops with live music, food, camping and youth activities for two full days of fun in one of the most pristine Idaho landscapes.
“This event is in its third year but the first two years were more of just a picnic-style get together,” said McKinley Wilson, one of the event’s co-organizers. “This will be the first year that it has been branded as the South Fork Fest and will function as a sort of soft opening for us.”
The festival, located at N 5050 E in Rigby, will be held at the Aspen Grove Campground and Mountain River Ranch near the Heise Bridge along the South Fork of the Snake River on Aug. 15 and 16. Ticket prices are $20 for the entire weekend and can be obtained by visiting southforkfest.com .
The event is being held and promoted by the South Fork Arts Foundation, a non-profit that aims to meld outdoor recreation education with live music and the benefits that come from inspiring local youth to be involved in both pastimes. The collective of organizers behind the project include Caleb Brown and Derek Parry in addition to Wilson.
“The three of us are all musicians and songwriters who grew up in Idaho Falls,” Wilson said. “In Idaho Falls and the surrounding areas there are a bunch of us that are writing music and trying to release music. We formed a collective of us all and decided to get together under a moniker that we’re calling Blue Roan Artists. This event was born out of this idea a few years ago to schedule a time to get together where we would play music and have these release parties.”
The Blue Roan Artists label also features Donella’s partner, Brian McGiff. The couple owns and operates a professional recording studio in Idaho Falls. Though it wasn’t recorded at the studio in Idaho Falls, Donella and Wilson actually worked together with one member of the Foo Fighters and the Charlie Crockett band to record some music that will be releasing later this year.
After over 200 people attended the sparsely advertised event last year, the organizers decided they wanted to try and make the event even bigger, invite the general public and provide an environment where attendees can appreciate the homegrown musical talent of the West and the many outdoor opportunities the geography of Idaho can provide.
A total of 20 artists will be performing, including Pocatello’s LOOT, Hot Pursuit and Spudmother, alongside other Blue Roan Artists such as Idaho Falls-based Donella, Mckinley Wilson and Montana-based group Madrona.
Headlining the festival this year is Tim Hodgson and Will Logsdon.
“Tim Hodgson is the fiddler with The Bar‐J Wranglers, a local celebrity band out of Jackson Hole,” Wilson said. “They had a guest ranch in Teton Village for 30 years and would do a little performance, song and dance, and then they’d have a smoked brisket dinner for all the tourists that come through Jackson Hole. He’s performing on Friday and we will have Will Logsdon from Nashville performing on Saturday.”
Wilson added, “We’re pretty excited about the lineup. We have a lot of really great local bands on the list.”
The event will feature two stages, one provided by local sound engineer and music production company owner Jake Ball, as well as another stage located in one of the pergolas at the Aspen Grove Campground. The event will allow for RV’s however all spots have been reserved for this year already, though tent camping is still available at Aspen Grove.
In between the music acts, the event will feature a multitude of different activities, including a young artists and kid’s talent show to kick off both days (5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 15, and noon on Saturday, Aug. 16), complimentary fly fishing casting seminars, a presentation from the Bureau of Land Management on best practices for recreating in the region and more.
Additionally, the event will feature a raffle (attendees are encouraged to bring cash for this purpose) that will help support the South Fork Arts Foundation and provide some seed money for future South Fort Fest events.
“We picked up a raffle prize from Guns N Gear in Idaho Falls who are offering an annual membership to the indoor gun range, a fly fishing rod from Fly Fish Food Jimmy’s, a Yeti cooler from Clackacraft Drift Boats and a whole bunch of other items from area restaurants and coffee shops,” Wilson said. “There are going to be a ton of giveaways in between stage acts.”
Other raffle items include a weekend stay at the Aspen Grove, a weekend getaway provided by Steele n’ Jo’s Bone and a fitness training session from Bull Barbell.
“The vision of the festival is to make it an annual event around this time every year,” Wilson said. “What we are planning on doing with the raffles is offering memberships to our nonprofit and we intend to use the funds to get headliners for next year. We would like to bring in some bigger acts that are more household names and be a bigger draw to the festival while still incorporating the regional artists that would get to open up for those headliners.”
All performers will be able to take advantage of a free hospitality from the organizers, including meals and lodging, Wilson said.
The event will have a food and non-alcoholic beverage provider on site and attendees can bring in their own food, beverage and alcohol but they are encouraged to drink responsibly, according to Wilson.
Wilson said he envisions this festival serving as a sister festival to Pocatello’s annual Shady Grove Music Camp, a two-day festival with over 30 bands on three stages, live art installations, camping and yoga held at FMC park every third weekend of July.
“Our goal is to work together and collaborate with some of the Shady Grove Music Camp organizers to help grow both events,” he said.
Other sponsors of the event include Chesbro Music, Chalmers Realty Group, Sandhill Media Group, Hill Country Construction, Trimp Wealth Management, Fly Fish Food Jimmy’s, the Cookie Cottage and the Aspen Grove Inn.
Free parking is available at the Aspen Grove Campground on a first-come-first-serve basis with overflow parking available across the street at the Mountain River Ranch for $5 per vehicle.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs to enjoy the event or have one provided for them (and three complimentary beverages) for an additional $10.
For information about the handicap accessible drop off and pickup location, please email info@southforkfest.com.
A full lineup, artist biographies, the schedule and the volunteer sign up can also be found of the South Fork Fest website .
More information about the festival can be obtained online by visiting the South Fork Fest Facebook page.
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