Born On A Mountaintop—5850 Fest Unites Sports, Food And Entertainment

Forbes

21-04-2025

From the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho, the 5850 Fest was born.
All eyes were on the mountaintop at Sun Valley, Idaho recently for the Audi FIS World Cup of Skiing, which returned to the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade, and to Idaho for the first time since 1977. To celebrate, a new festival that brings sports, food, and music together alongside the world-wide athletic competition was born. Named for the elevation of Ketchum, Idaho, 5850 Fest took place between March 20-27 and brought athletes, top chefs, comedians, and musicians together; and, at least for one week, nearly tripled the population of the small midwestern town. Barely a month after the final event and the buzz has only just begun to die down.
Founders Jenny Dupre and Brandon Kuvara of 5B Productions, a company that regularly produces live events, knew that producing a festival alongside the Audi FIS World Cup should be like no other, and that they had a special, time-specific opportunity to bring many facets of entertainment together.
The mission at hand, Dupre said, was 'to be able to show the world that Ketchum is truly a gem of the American West and that it is a place that is accessible to everyone.' 5850 Fest not only road the wave of excitement surrounding the Audi FIS World Cup return to Sun Valley after decades, but knew the world would also be watching since ski champion Lindsey Vonn was re-entering the arena there after a nearly seven-year absence.
From the outside, no one would have guessed that the event was the first of its kind, in its inaugural year, as all systems from entertainment and culinary to transportation were executed without major hiccups. Except for March 22 when high winds caused the cancellation of the men's and women's downhill races, the 5850 Fest went off without a hitch.
Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence during "First Tracks" event at 5850, March 24.
Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence took the reigns as Culinary Creative Director of the inaugural to-dos and kept thousands happy and fed during the festivities. Joined by other celebrity chefs like Art Smith, who brought his popular Art Bird chicken fare to the event, and social media sensation Ana Sofia Fehn who gave brunch menus a serious reboot, attendees got the star treatment. In addition to all the talent from celebrity chef-dom, Chef Melissa Mauselle, a partner chef at Sun Valley Culinary Institute, kept the spotlight on local talent like students from the institute who helped throughout the week-long affair.
Amidst pop-ups and demos, fireside chats and all-day snacks, to high-end multi-course dinners, there was a treat at every turn making the culinary portion of the festival tagline--Summit to Table--an undeniable truth. Speaking of Pop-ups. Even PopUp Bagels were at 5850 fest with lines a mile long for its hot, mega-popular bagels. The company--surely giving other bagel companies a run for their money--even hopped up on stage to throw out piping hot, chewy bagels to crowds of thousands in between musical acts. Another treat spotted throughout the fest was Kinzie Foods barbeque sauces. Run by Walter Kinzie, the long-time concert producer brought his worlds of music and food together and shared samples of his popular sauces while keeping the energy high amongst attendees.
Chef Ana Sofia Fehn
Hosting one of the first culinary events at the Fest, Ana Sofia Fehn stepped outside of her comfort zone. Used to sharing content online, she said she had been quietly working on her menus for the event for months, merely sharing a few teasers to her one million followers. 'It has been such an honor to be a part of the development process and be asked to share my vision,' Fehn said just after the brunch wrapped up. 'The team really we wanted me to curate this event and just do it. Getting to grow with them has been really cool.'
Despite her work being predominantly online, she says a lot of people ask where they can go an try her food. 'I do make food for other people but hope something like this will bring up other opportunities to do that and make it a regular part of my content. I'm trying to integrate that more into my career,' she said. 'I love the creative side of filming and editing, but, I do it alone. Here, it is so nice to be in the kitchen and with people and getting feedback.' After the brunch and dinner Fehn hosted, she stuck around for part of another day to film a schmear collab with PopUp Bagels for her own schmear. Sour Cream & Onion, Anyone?
Chef Art Smith brought some of his famous chicken to the masses during 5850.
When sitting with Tyler Florence to discuss the ins and outs of inaugural festival, he was more than optimistic of its future. First of all, even though founders reached out to him he was quick to say that he and his team had been craving something like just this. 'We love events, we love music festivals, and we love sporting events,' Florence said. Used to doing events across the country from Charleston to Coachella, he said '5850 is a really great opportunity for us to come and do something fun and new.' Not only is the intersection of so many creative avenues different, but to do so in the Midwest, and oversee the whole culinary production was a particularly special part of his participation.
Florence said he and his team got to literally and figuratively add a new elevation to their programming. While at 5850 Fest, for example, they completely transformed a former restaurant in downtown Ketchum into one resembling Miller & Lux, his renowned steakhouse that opened in San Francisco in 2021.
Annie Bosko was just one of many musicians warming up the town crowd during the week-long festival.
'We've become a restaurant that has an events production team that can do fast, really high-end food for festivals at scale. And so we're just uniquely qualified to be here.' As with any sort of planning, there can be scheduling issues, or people who have to back out at last minute; or in the case of deciding to attend the 'first' of something, cause some talent some trepidation. When asking Florence about next year and giving other talent a reason to go, he noted, 'Ketchum is a really unique microcosm of culture. There's something very iconic, and Americana about being here."
A self-proclaimed Hemingway fan, Florence said he was thrilled to take some time out and visit the author's property on one of his visits to the area during the planning process for the festival. Hemingway apparently started visiting the area in 1939, then lived there full-time between 1959-1961 until he died. It doesn't take long for newcomers to understand why the area's charm, and that Americana sensibility could be a draw for a one-of-a-kind experience.
'Sometimes you've got to just put the right situation together and, from a fuel standpoint, just light it. And 5850 is meant to elevate the festival experience. South by Southwest started someplace, right? BottleRock started some place?" he asked. "All these big things that that have become iconic over the years started with one really, really great year, as their inaugural festival, and that's what we're doing right now,' Florence said. 'We're putting the flag in the ground for making it not just even a little cool, but something that I think the world is going to be paying attention to.'
Brandi Cyrus kept Ketchum crowds in the festive spirit during the inaugural 5850 Fest last month.
Upon the success of its first year, 5850 Fest has already proclaimed its dates for next year. The 'Elevation of Celebration' experience will take place in Ketchum between March 13-16, 2026.