The Treefort Music Festival main stage entrance in Boise, Idaho on March 22, 2019.

BOISE, IDAHO — Rain-slicked streets reflected streetlights outside the Linen Building. Echoing through the dark streets just outside downtown, the in-your-face flow of Toronto rapper Haviah Mighty was heard from inside the 100-year-old white brick building on March 20 during the Treefort Music Fest.

“Y’all have the cleanest city I’ve ever been in!” the rapper yelled to the 100-plus fans who have pushed tightly together around the small stage despite plenty of room throughout the rest of the building. “I’m going back to tell Toronto about this place!”

It’s a funny compliment but one the heavily Boise-based crowd was eating up. It’s the second time Haviah Mighty has played at Boise’s five-day music festival. Her confident style and firecracker personality was likely to have made many new fans in Idaho’s largest city, with a population of about 221,000. Following her set she spent 10 minutes talking to fans and even exchanging information with them.

This type of interaction is what you still get at Treefort Fest. Now in its eighth year. Treefort has grown from 137 bands spread across 13 more traditional venues  to 442 bands playing in 39 venues and nine paths, called forts.

The festival has something for everyone thanks to the fort system. In the first few days it’s normal to see suit-clad businesspeople mix with casually dressed festivalgoers at Hackfort, Foodfort and Storyfort. Saturday the festival was taken over by families as Kidfort hit its stride with music by kids, “fortcraft” and Drag Queen Story Hour. For those looking to get a taste of Idaho’s beer scene, Alefort hit the spot. Festivalgoers looking to get their chi centered hit up Yogafort. Then there was Comedyfort and Filmfort, with plenty more entertainment. In all the festival paths created a blend of SXSW and Bonnaroo.

The festival stretched throughout downtown and featured some fun and unique venues. While the main stage was what one might expect from a music festival,  everything else took place in smaller bars, restaurants and even a Shriners club.

El Korah Shrine was a must-visit when coming to Treefort. On March 20 people lined up for more than a block as CHAI took the stage. The Shredder divebar was another favorite with a great vibe to see some heavy metal. Pengilly’s Saloon had a quaint Western vibe with great acoustics for bands not looking to  push the decibels. Concert hall Nerolux, famous for its crown stage and eclectic crowd, also hosted terrific performances over the five-day festival.

Not everything was a breeze, however, with a lack of main stage sight-lines from some directions.

While music remained the top draw at Treefort, the food and drink options was also noteworthy. Boise’s food scene has been exploding in recent years. Many of the city’s great new restaurants also have food trucks and seemingly all of them lined roughly two blocks around the main stage, from mac and cheese to New York pizza, chicken and rice bowls and the popular “T.N.T. Taco” at The Funky Taco, with tuna, microgreens and wasabi guacamole.

Follow Shane Johnson at Twitter.com/shanejohnson14 and Instagram.com/thehurra.