The Fort Collins Music Experiment transformed downtown Fort Collins April 24-25 as the festival filled all 40 stages with over 450 Colorado-based bands. While the festival drew a sold-out crowd, FoCoMX has not wavered from its original intention: creating a music festival by musicians, for musicians.

What started as a festival to showcase Fort Collins’ bands to locals through the Fort Collins Musicians Association has, over a dozen years later, turned into something much bigger.

Greta Cornett, one of the co-founders of FoCoMA, said when they started FoCoMX 17 years ago, most of the board was filled with working musicians, allowing FoCoMX to not only showcase live music but also to create a festival where local musicians could network and thrive. As the festival grew, Cornett and her team realized the FoCoMX community was ready to open its doors to all of Colorado.

“We realized by year three that the best way to build the scene was to share the scene, and that was the year that we opened it up statewide, … building the scene stronger by all of us being there together and making sure everyone has access as a musician,” Cornett said. 

That same year, FoCoMX gained its title as “The Biggest Little Festival in America,” given to them by Westword, a Colorado newspaper.

“I remember they came out for the festival and just could not believe how much music was coming out of Fort Collins,” Cornett said.

As the festival continues to grow, Cornett and her team made the decision to cap-out tickets this year at 7,500, officially selling out the festival. This decision was made to not only prioritize the experience of fans, volunteers and venue staff, but to continue to ensure that FoCoMX performers and their plus-ones were able to experience what the organization set out to do in 2009.

Cornett said one of the main priorities of FoCoMX is to expand the inner network of Colorado musicians, enabling them to meet and connect with fellow musicians and to enjoy each other’s performances.

“It was so cool to go to the venues after our set and just see that every single one was packed,” said Kendall James, who performed with his Denver-based band Neon the Bishop.

Fort Collins’ arts community is something organizations like FoCoMA pride itself on. Through the continued efforts of FoCoMA, Cornett and her team have made FoCoMX what it is today. 

“The thing I learned this year is that Fort Collins is the place to be,” James said.

For many festivals, it is not uncommon for fans to see one headlining act or experience a single genre. But with FoCoMX, fans are able to discover a new band every set.

“Our biggest goal every year at FoCoMX is to help people find their next favorite artist,” Cornett said. “I think people are really open-minded to that. They go out, bounce around and try new things out.”

Not only does FoCoMX support a wide range of genres, but the music community local to Fort Collins is diverse in itself, allowing them the opportunity to showcase what is already here, Cornett added.

“It seems like here almost everyone either loves music or plays music, and I think that is really special to Fort Collins,” Cornett said. “It’s something a lot of people don’t know, and having something like FoCoMX is a great way to discover that. It is an incredible scene filled with very talented people and also people that really care about it. It makes it really special.”

Brooke Van Buiten, lead singer of Fort Collins-based punk band Bitchflower, brought up the connection between some of Bitchflower’s songs and April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month during the band’s performance at the Aggie Theatre April 24. Van Buiten said moments like those allow fans to connect personally, as well as creatively, with bands they haven’t seen before.

“Giving a space within our band and the music we create to … release energy and release anger … (and allow people) to dance or mosh or whatever is really great and is also a community aspect of music, too, … where we are not alone and we have support through the community,” Van Buiten said.

Van Buiten said, for her, supporting her community is easy.

“We have so many bands and musicians who are coming out of Fort Collins and making incredible music,” Van Buiten said. “I don’t just go to my friends shows to support my friends or community; I go because the music is incredible. … It makes it so easy to support the community when all the music that people are making is incredible.”

Reach Ruby Secrest at entertainment@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.