Forkfest’s Lucky Number Seven  

On June 7th and 8th 2024, The seventh annual Forkfest found a home at Art Dye Park in American Fork. The festival features mainly local acts, and the lineup only gets better as the festival grows. 

     The festival’s firelight kickoff took place on Friday night at the Forest Stage. The stage was set in a secluded part of the park that offered a break from the heat in addition to the homey, intimate environment. The festival was put together in collaboration with the Velour Live Music Gallery and the Harrington Center for the Arts. The Velour Gallery is a staple in the Provo music scene and many of the decorations in the forest stage felt like sitting on one of the shows at the venue. There was a wall made of a collage of shutters, strung-up lampshades and a bandana canopy hanging from the trees. Artists were quick to share their love for the Velour and its owner, Corey Fox. They expressed their gratitude for his contributions and commitment to the scene in Utah and the hand he has had in it’s growth and life. The forest stage had many of the singer-songwriters and solo artists performing on it while the bands with more moving parts would be set up to perform Saturday on the Mountain and Lake Stages. As someone who frequents the Velour open mic-nights that are held every Wednesday, I felt proud to see these smaller artists get their name on a bill and perform for a larger audience.

     In addition to all three stages in full swing on Saturday, attendees had the opportunity to browse booths set up by local artists, shops, and organizations. I splurged and bought a $1 mystery poster from a seller whose spoofed design of Jeff Goldblum holding a lamb caught my eye. From the booths, the music was still audible and easy to enjoy. With the stages being in such close quarters, it was made possible to engage in every part of the festival experience without sacrificing the music or the fun. Attendees had the chance to meet other fans and some of the acts even took time to hang out at the merch booth and talk with audience members after their performances. Some bands had homemade and one-of-a-kind merch exclusive to the festival.  It was exciting to see the amount of local support in the number of people wearing shirts for bands like Book on Tape Worm, The Moth and the Flame, and of course the festival’s headliner and SLC natives IDK How But They Found Me aka IDK How.

     The musical acts themselves were the core of the event and carried the weight of the festival. Many of the artists are local and have either played Forkfest in previous years or are familiar to local music enthusiasts. Bands like Poolhouse, Beeson, and Drusky have all played the festival before and made sure to be back for the seventh year even as they continue grow in popularity. Drusky’s Mia Hicken made a comment about the Utah scene and how after touring around and seeing new faces and crowds that there is something special about the community of musicians and fans in Utah. The enthusiasm and love exceed any they found outside state lines. This was evident as an audience member as well. Fans of Drusky shouted predictions for the next songs in the set, and surprising amount of guesses were correct. It was a first-hand example of that incomparable artist to fan connection.

     The acts only got better as the day went on as the anticipation for the finale built up. Past headliners include The Aces, Ritt Momney, and the Backseat Lovers, all Utah artists who have gone on to achieve great success across the country and beyond. IDK How has also headlined Forkfest before and were a big source of buzz around this year’s lineup. The set did not disappoint as they played old favorites like “Choke” and “Absinthe” and highlights from their most recent release Gloom Division.  Spirits were high as the day cooled down and the festival came to a close. 

     As Forkfest grows we can only expect it to follow the pattern of showing local love and lineups loaded with fan favorites. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Forkfest.