Dancing into winter

Live music event Jack Frost Fest makes its Granary District debut Nov. 13

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

As Sandpoint prepares to celebrate at Jack Frost Fest, the mission is simple: join the community in raising a glass to live music, local eats and white-capped mountains. Above all, cheers to Ullr, the Norse god and de facto patron saint of winter, in hopes that he brings North Idaho a snowy season to remember.

Mattox Farm Productions is slated to host its fourth Jack Frost Fest on Saturday, Nov. 13 starting at 12 p.m. in Sandpoint’s Granary District (between Evans Brothers Coffee and Matchwood Brewing on Church and Oak Streets). This is the first time the event has been held at this location — something Mattox Farm Productions founder Robb Talbott is looking forward to.

Shakewell plays at the Kettlehouse Amphitheater in Montana. Photo courtesy LogJam Presents.

“I am really excited to be working with Matchwood and Evans Brothers to make this event even more of a community event than it has been in the past,” Talbott told the Reader. 

That’s thanks partially to the central, outdoor location, but also to the support of numerous sponsors who have chipped in to ensure that the 2021 Jack Frost Fest is free to attend.

“Being free and outside at the Granary District are big changes that we are really excited about,” Talbott said. “Both will help this event continue to grow into what the Sandpoint community wants it to be.”

This year’s Jack Frost Fest will feature live music from several genres, as Mattox Farm Productions welcomes five different acts to two different stages in the Granary District.

“I’m really excited about the variety of music this year,” Talbott said. “There will be a little bit of everything, from rock, funk, bluegrass, blues, country, as well as native influences from around the world.”

The current line-up includes Systir, a Sandpoint folk band made up of two pairs of sisters, playing 12-1:30 p.m.; local vocal talent Samantha Carston 1:30-2:30 p.m.; Last Chance Band, a Coeur d’Alene-based country outfit, playing 2:30-4 p.m.; Sandpoint rockers Crooked Tooth from 4-5 p.m.; and to round off the evening, Missoula funk masters Shakewell, hitting the stage 5-6:30 p.m.

Last Chance Band plays at FarmJam 2019. Courtesy photo.

“We are looking forward to getting Shakewell back to town. I can’t think of a better band to get the snow dances going,” Talbott said. “Last Chance Band will make their full band debut in Sandpoint — I am sure Sandpoint will enjoy their music.”

Aside from the focus on free, live music, Jack Frost Fest is also all about good eats, tasty drinks and activities for all ages. The ultimate goal is to “get stoked about the coming winter,” according to Talbott.

“Jack Frost Fest is unique due to the community feel and family-friendly nature of the event,” he said, “as well as the quality of live music that lasts a good part of the day — especially this time of year.”

Learn more about Jack Frost Fest and other Mattox Farm Productions events at mattoxfarm.com. Talbott would like to thank the 2021 Jack Frost Fest sponsors for making this event free to attend: Evans Brothers, Matchwood Brewing, Washington Trust Bank, Selle Design Group, Mycelium Collective, Sandpoint Reader, ShotzSki, K102 and KPND.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.