Wild in the Trees — NY’s Newest Festival is the Best One Yet

Wild in the Trees. Article and photography by Tammie Birdwell.

On October 6th and 7th, Frankie Cavone and Mirth Films hosted and produced New York’s newest and perhaps most unique festival yet — Wild in the Trees 2023. Held at the Lake George Skate Plaza, this festival features everything we love about music festivals with a bonus: there is a skateboarding competition as well as all your favorites such as art, food, alcohol, vendors, and bubbles.

The event was to be held whether it was rain or shine. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. Frankie and his team at Mirth Films had to pivot quickly when they realized that there was no way they could safely hold that day’s festivities outside. They quickly got approval to host a few bands in a taproom down the road called The Trap.

All hope seemed lost, but suddenly everyone just made the best of the situation inside The Trap. There was a TV so people could play Pro Skater. There was a bar, lights, a stage, and a bathroom — most importantly a roof. It wasn’t what anyone expected, yet it still somehow exceeded all our expectations. Wild in the Tree’s kickoff event was intimate and, simply put, just a really good time.

The Scunches opened things up on stage. Also playing on Saturday night were Hilltop, Funngkshui, and Two Planets Away — a slight change to the original lineup, but a delicious mix nonetheless.

Sunday, though, it was clear that everyone was ready to make up for lost time. The sun was shining, it was perfectly warm, and the small lake that had appeared in front of the stage the day before had dissipated. The skaters were ready to go and the bands were ready to absolutely crush and they did.

Day two’s acts included The Hauntings, Shu, Fine Grain, Candy Ambulance, and Joe Mansman, and the Midnight Revival Band. And you didn’t have to worry about where to look. A band would play, and then while the crew turned the stage over for the next act, Mirth would hold one of the many different skateboard contests they held that day.

A few of the skateboard trials included:

• Skate or Dice
• High Ollie
• Game of S.K.A.T.E
• 45-second runs

It was an absolutely delightful weekend in every way, even when the rain forced everyone inside on day one. There was only one minor injury among the skaters. According to my source, he has a sprain and he just needs to take it easy for a while. Considering how many of them fell, and how often, that seems like a mostly good ending as well.