From Punk-Grass to Gospel: The eclectic spirit of the Ogden Music Festival

Folk singer Steve Poltz leads the kids parade at Ogden Music Festival 2026. Photo by Sam Crump courtesy of OFOAM

Nestled comfortably under the cottonwood stands along the Weber River at Fort Buenaventura, the Ogden Music Festival recently welcomed attendees to its 18th season. Neither rain nor wind nor unseasonably cool temps could chill the spirits of hundreds of festival goers as they cheered on the first musical act of the weekend, The Last Wild Buffalo, a Utah band of smiling punk-grass cowboys (and a cowgirl), that stomped and hollered across the stage, warming up the early crowd and setting the mood for a weekend of music, dancing, and magic. Music, it turns out, makes its own heat.

Originally the brainchild of executive director Michelle Tanner, the Ogden Music Festival succeeds each year because of the gentle ferocity of its founder, the steady and enthusiastic support of its co-director, Reba Nissen, and the operational muscle of over 300 volunteers. Less a miracle than a monument to human grit, this festival is the beating heart of Ogden’s cultural life. There at Fort Buenaventura — Ogden’s own birthplace — packed with concertgoers, campers, future folksingers, and the best local and national talent, many of them insisting, both privately and on stage, that this festival is by far their favorite. "It feels like home," Michelle says, "an eclectic mix just like Ogden."

Boston-born transplant Melissa Chilinski agrees. Relaxing backstage after performing with her band The Hearfolk in the hospitality tent, she describes her love affair with music with an easy charm. A former soil scientist and multi-instrumentalist with a voice like warm honey, she was drawn to Utah by its landscape but has remained after finding her people here among the vagabonds and troubadours that frequent the festival. Making music, she says, is about building community and "not taking ourselves too seriously." Watching her laughing and telling stories with her bandmates in the post-performance glow is the stamp of authenticity that makes the Ogden Music Festival special.

If you had arrived at the venue Saturday afternoon, you would have discovered Steve Poltz, a friendly and well-traveled singer-songwriter, this year’s artist-in-residence and self-appointed court jester, leading — Pied Piper-like — a parade of children with their custom cut and hand-decorated wooden guitars in hand around the Fort singing all the verses, first of "You Are My Sunshine" and then "La Bamba." I am embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t heard of Steve Poltz before the festival, but just a few minutes earlier he had leapt on stage with “Blood on the Tracks,” a project from a supergroup of Utah artists (from Neon Trees, Madison Arm, Hollering Pines and The Lower Lights) and sung, much to the crowd’s delight, “Tangled Up in Blue.” Unrehearsed and unpretentious, the lanky long-haired hippie minstrel sang every verse of Dylan’s classic, bringing the crowd to its feet and reminding us all why we had come.

Later, sitting in the late afternoon sun with Miko Marks and her musical director Justin Phipps following a jam session with a dozen or so local musicians, we laughed about the circuitous route that had brought her back to the stage after a 13-year break. Originally planning to be a lawyer, she had sung in church choirs as a child in Flint, Michigan. Influenced as much by John Prine and Bob Dylan as by Nina Simone and writers Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, her gospel-inflected blues echo biblical themes and country western sensibilities. Her return to the festival (she debuted here in 2023) is a homecoming of sorts. The crowd remembers her as she warms them up with a few memories from her first visit to Ogden and then lets the music do the talking. For Miko, the stage is where she meets her audience, not only as a public performer, but as simply another human being telling stories through song and bridging the divide between art and life.

And that brings us back to the music. Most would agree with Michelle that it’s eclectic. And many would also bristle at a firm insistence on definition. Is it roots music? Americana? Punk Folk? Alt Country? Newgrass? It probably doesn’t matter that much. What it absolutely is NOT is strictly acoustic — the "A" in OFOAM — (Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music). Sure, you’ll hear a lot of mandolins, fiddles, and banjos in nearly every set, but you’ll also hear a classic Fender Rhodes once in a while or maybe a vintage Wurlie. Stratocasters and Les Pauls abound, and every so often a horn line makes a loud and impressive appearance. Is that jazz I hear? Sometimes. The one quality all the music shares is that every group is personally selected by Michelle and her talent committee. "We don’t bring bad music in," she says matter-of-factly. Her ear for good music has been honed over decades of listening. She knows what she likes and, in the words of her co-director Reba Nissen, she has the trust of thousands and knows what her audience will enjoy. Inevitably festival fans come away each year with new favorites and an expanded appreciation for music that they might have never discovered on their own.

Photos from Ogden Music Festival 2026 (left to right): The Last Wild Buffalo performs on the Main Stage; Steve Poltz leads the children’s parade sharing a moment with the author Steve Williams; Melissa Chilinski and The Hearfolk perform on the Main Stage; Miko Marks performs on the Main Stage; Miko Marks joins the jam circle at the festival. Photos by Sam Crump courtesy of OFOAM