Last summer, local pro skier and rock n’ roll star Matt Reardon was invited by his former manager to work on Jay-Z’s Made in America festival in Philadelphia. The festival, which featured some of the country’s most popular acts like Pearl Jam, Beyoncé (of course), and Skrillex, gave Reardon an idea — why not put on a music festival in Tahoe to celebrate what makes our mountain community so special?
The Made in Tahoe Festival, which will take place in Squaw Valley from July 4 to 6, features three days of free music with local bands like Jelly Bread, Mama’s Cookin’, and Drop Theory, as well as a vendor village and inspiration station, where kids get a chance to meet local pro athletes.
Reardon originally envisioned the concert at the end of summer, but when the ski area approached him about holding it over Fourth of July weekend, he saw the advantage — an opportunity to not only show off Tahoe/Truckee’s best to visitors, but to keep locals in town over the holiday weekend.
“A lot of locals leave Tahoe, and the place is filled with people who have never been to Tahoe before,” Reardon said. “I want people to say, ‘Holy cow! This community is amazing.’”
It was also a good fit for Squaw. For the past two years, the ski area has held concerts at the base of KT-22 — Big Head Todd & the Monsters in 2011 and Brett Dennen in 2012. While these free shows attracted thousands of people, Squaw wanted to go for something bigger.
“We wanted to up the ante, to turn it into less of a concert and more of a festival,” said Sean Kristl, marketing manager for Squaw Valley.
It also plugged a gap in a summer line-up of big events for Squaw and Tahoe — the Wanderlust music and yoga festival at the end of July and the Ironman triathlon in September — while providing an opportunity for the community to promote smaller, ongoing events like Truckee Thursdays and Concerts at Commons Beach.
“It filled the void of a really great marquee event over Fourth of July,” Kristl said. “It’s a great time to show off our culture to folks who may not be from here.”
In addition to music on two stages, there will be vendor booths from local businesses like Tahoe Made, Arcade Belts, and Big Truck Hats, as well as nonprofits like the High Fives Foundation, Protect Our Winters, and the Shane McConkey Foundation. At the Tahoe Youth Inspiration Station, kids can get autographs and talk to their favorite local athletes like Jeremy Jones, JT Holmes, Johnny Mosley, Ingrid Backstrom, and Julia Mancuso.
It was important for Reardon, a professional freeskier since the 1990s, to give kids an opportunity to meet their heroes.
“When I was in first grade I met [Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback] Terry Bradshaw,” he said. “It drove me to achieve my dreams in sports.”
There will also be other activities for kids at Squaw’s new Base Area, which includes a climbing wall, slack line, paint ball, and lawn games. Since the festival ends at 8 p.m. every night, that leaves plenty of time for those wanting to see the Tahoe City fireworks on the 4th to head over to the North Shore.
Both Squaw and Reardon, who will be closing out the festival on Saturday night with his band Black Sunshine, hope to make the Made in Tahoe festival an annual event.
“No one has exposed and highlighted all that we have going on here,” Reardon said. “It’s definitely important to show it off.”
The Made in Tahoe festival runs July 4 to 6, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.. To see the music line-up, visit squaw.com/things-to-do/events-calendar/made-tahoe-festival.
