This Friday and Saturday, the little town of Riverside, Wyoming will see its population balloon from 50 to 1500. WHAT Fest has seen steady growth since moving to Riverside from Cody, five years ago.
This year’s music festival features more than 30 bands, mostly from around Wyoming. But there are also bands from Colorado and several national touring acts performing this weekend, including The Black Lillies and The Lonesome Heroes.
And fans are starting to come from farther afield, too. “A growing number starting in Fort Collins, but I think we’re starting to see more from farther south: Denver, Boulder," said the festival's PR volunteer Harrison Welshimer. "And this music festival shows people that there is something very hip here. And that’s something that a lot of people from the outside don’t understand.”
WHAT Fest has two rotating outdoor stages for continuous music as well as an indoor stage. It runs July 29-30 in Riverside.