After last year’s chaos of nonstop interviews, darting between venues, and snapping photos of incredible bands, I decided to take a step back this year at Treefort. I wanted to truly experience the festival, not as a press representative, but as a person in the crowd, soaking it all in. From March 26th to the 30th, I caught 33 sets, took some photos here and there, but mostly just let the energy of the festival carry me.

Right before Treefort kicked off, SXSW announced it was cutting its music weekend, leaving many people wondering what would fill that gap. Honestly? Treefort might just be the one to do it. This year’s lineup was stacked: Remi Wolf, Amyl and the Sniffers, Vundabar, Yot Club, Tommy Newport, and the list goes on. All single-day passes for Wednesday, March 26, through Sunday, March 30, 2025, sold out before the festival. By March 28, 2025, all 5-Day General Admission, Zipline, and U21 passes were officially sold out.

With that much hype, though, came some long lines—and I won’t lie, it was tough trying to catch everything I wanted. Some of my favorite sets were nearly impossible to get into. But here’s the thing: while it’s frustrating in the moment, it also pushed me to be spontaneous. Instead of standing in line forever, I wandered into shows I hadn’t planned on—and more than once, those turned out to be some of the best sets I saw.

That’s the real charm of Treefort. Over 400 artists take over an entire town—venues pop up everywhere, from bars to parks to strip malls. If there’s space, there’s probably a band playing. It’s wild, and it makes the whole thing feel like a giant scavenger hunt for music.