Head to Fort Collins for FoCoMX: The Biggest Little Music Festival in America

Every year in downtown Fort Collins on a weekend in late April, “the streets are alive with the sounds of local music.” That charming assessment comes from Greta Cornett of the Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMA) as she excitedly discusses FoCoMX.

Started “for musicians by musicians,” according to Cornett, FoCoMX is a locally organized event from the Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMA); this weekend will mark its sixteenth iteration, on Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20. Growing out of the nonprofit’s FoCoMA Peer Awards, the event began in 2009 as a DIY showcase for local talent, complete with handmade tickets. The first year included four locations with four bands in each spot, but it's now expanded to nearly 350 acts across 35 to 40 venues.

The festival is a well-oiled machine that keeps its small-town vibe by being volunteer-driven, and is, Cornett notes, “intentionally inclusive of all genres and musicians." While the festival originally focused on Fort Collins artists, planners later opened lineups to all of Colorado. "The best way to build our scene is to share our scene," Cornett says. "We want to showcase Colorado music.”

She emphasizes the festival's grassroots nature, adding, “Every year, we learn lessons and try to make it better for musicians, for fans, for businesses and for the city.” Originally spread across town, organizers narrowed the blueprint to a walkable path in downtown Fort Collins. Centered in Old Town between the Lyric on the north end and the Colorado Room to the south, the layout ensures that festival-goers face at most a fifteen-minute walk, though most venues are around the corner from each other.When it comes to curating lineups, FoCoMA “definitely has a booking strategy,” Cornett says, intentionally putting acts together that appeal to everyone. "It’s about “building community through music,” she adds. To that end, fans can see bluegrass paired with noise followed by indie rock, acoustic folk, metal and punk.

“One new thing we launched this year,” she points out, “is designated walking paths to provide a choose-your-own-adventure” experience. FoCoMX’s website also has curated playlists, so festival-goers can build a schedule based on what the Blasting Room or the Music District and others suggest. “We want to make this festival as accessible as possible to everyone," Cornett says, in the hopes that attendees might find their "next favorite band.”

The trick is to wander around and “go where your ears take you,” says Brian Johanson of SugarBritches. Johanson started playing music in Fort Collins twenty years ago with his honky-tonk band, which draws an eclectic crowd of “young and old, weirdos and non-weirdos alike.” Having seen FoCoMX’s evolution, he marvels at how “it just gets better and better,” with a dedicated team of volunteers and businesses to highlight “all the love and camaraderie among the musicians.”

He says attendees should "definitely mark out [their] dance card for the evening" to check out multiple venues and different genres. “A lot of people call it FoCoMX-mas,” he adds, complementing Cornett’s belief that it "truly is the most wonderful time of the year.”

Fort Collins comprises a tight-knit community with a rich music history, and local musicians are often in several bands across genres, creating more exposure and diverse crowds. Alysia Kraft, who plays in several musical projects, observes, “The festival is by the community for the community and run purely on the love for music in our town. I love that it’s grassroots and volunteer-powered and has grown exponentially while staying so pure in its ethos and origins. It’s a great time to celebrate all of your friends, see as many sets as possible, and just be tossed around on the wave of good energy that is Fort Collins music fans.”
Collin Westcott, co-founder of Equinox Brewing, shares that sentiment. “'Community' is the key word,” Wescott says. “Everything is done by volunteers, and it’s amazing this group can pull it off every year.” Equinox Brewing, named for the official start of spring, has played a prominent role since 2011. The first act of every year is on Equinox’s patio, featuring Fort Collins-famous local musician Michael Kirkpatrick. “That’s always the kickoff on Friday afternoon,” Wescott explains, when a representative from the mayor’s office gives a commencement speech, exemplifying the city’s support. “This is our busiest weekend of the year,” Westcott notes. “It’s a real crown jewel for our city.” And as someone familiar with other national music festivals, he adds, “This is a world-class event.”

Nick Duarte is both a musician with Post Paradise, a four-piece indie-rock band featuring an electric cello, and a venue host at the Museum of Discovery. “I’ve played every year of the fest,” he notes proudly. After moving from Florida, he discovered a thriving music scene and started a band. “We played the Aggie our first year, and it was a really big launch for us.” He appreciates a local scene where bands want to collaborate. “It’s a musical lovefest,” he adds, “and FoCoMX is an outgrowth of that.”

Duarte is the “music guy” at the Discovery Museum, which hosts three stages during FoCoMX. Discovery works with the youth musician community to support “emerging opportunities,” and Duarte says he appreciates Visit Fort Collins, the local tourism office, for sponsoring a free day so anyone can come in and see music. “Every festival in a thriving music scene needs to have an all-ages venue,” Duarte adds, noting that Discovery is a sober venue and a family-friendly one. “FoCoMX,” he notes, “is super inclusive and super diverse,” and Discovery has a Youth Advisory Board which curates its own stage in the main gallery showcasing seven bands it wants to spotlight. The best part for Duarte? “This is a festival with no national headliners, no anchor bands — just lots and lots and lots of rad bands,” he says.
The anchor is the local scene, and half the bands are new to the festival. Barbara, a Denver-based trio that describes its sound as “dreamy psychedelia, grunge indie,” is playing its first FoCoMX. “We’ve wanted to play ever since the band started," says vocalist/guitarist Camilla Vaitaitis, "so we were thrilled our application was successful!”

The band loves playing festivals, says Vaitaitis, “because of all the new friends we meet,” whether that's another band or “someone who stumbles upon our set because of the festival atmosphere.” The band hung out with Jesus Christ Taxi Driver and Horse Bitch at Treefort Music Festival in Boise in March, and “those sets were amazing," she recalls, "so we can’t wait to see them again.”

Ramone and Molly Love of B.B.M.C. started playing the fest in 2019, and Ramone describes FoCoMX as “a beautiful opportunity for discovery of local artists.” Their group's genre has been dubbed “hip-hopera” because of Molly’s background in classical vocal performance. “When Ramone wanted to do hip-hop, I was happy to jump in and do vocals,” Molly says.

“What’s special is how cross-genre and inclusive it is,” Ramone says of FoCoMX, adding that it's “a beautiful mutual relationship between the city of Fort Collins and all the artists." It’s the great connectivity that keeps the community tight, and “one of the best things,” Molly adds, “is that we’re all friends.”
Another newcomer to Colorado music and FoCoMX is Dead Pioneers, a Denver-based Indigenous punk band headed by artist and musician Gregg Deal. “Fort Collins is just a legendary music scene," Deal says. "I am so stoked to be a part of it.” Dead Pioneer’s drummer, Shane Zweygardt, and guitarist Josh Rivera have both lived in Fort Collins, so when Zweygardt suggested the band apply, Deal was all in. “It’s a musicians' gig, and everything they do is for the musicians' community,” he explains.

Deal originally spent time in Fort Collins developing his Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy during a residency at the Music District, and that became the impetus for Dead Pioneers. While many towns have great music scenes, Deal believes “there is just something more deep-seated and systemic that is built into the DNA of Fort Collins.” Playing FoCoMX is “kind of cool because our genesis is Fort Collins,” he notes. "We haven't played up there before.

"It sounds like it’s just gonna be a rad weekend.”

FoCoMX is in downtown Fort Collins, Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20. Tickets are $60-$75.