We catch up with the three members of Salt Fox — the masterminds behind Lost Woods, a visionary music festival returning to the Cedar Falls forest this September — during a typically busy day. Andy Fuchtman (guitarist) is en route to the mechanic. Michael Rogers (vocals) and Jacob Pauli (synths and beats) are hanging out in the band’s multipurpose shop. In the background there are tools, friendly colleagues and Rogers’ new vocal pedal board, which Pauli is excited to show off.
“So this is what Michael sings through,” he says, a blurry but impressive array of pedals appearing on our Zoom screen. “That has changed the sound of the band a little bit.” As we talk, it becomes clear that this space — vibrant, creative and social — is a metaphor for the whole band. They’re never still: always writing, recording or, for their day job, installing gutters in Iowa’s Cedar Valley. There is no better example of their restless urge to create than Lost Woods.
For those unacquainted with the festival, what started as a labor of love (the first few iterations were unticketed and the actual location of the fest was kept secret until the day-of) is now approaching its fourth year. Pauli describes it as “a cozy dreamy music festival in the woods.” There are trails and getaways, interactive art, lights and side quests to be explored.
Rogers sums it up as the Alice in Wonderland experience of Iowa. “You jump in, and you get sucked under the tree, and now you’re in this new space you didn’t know was there. Then the rest of the world kind of blurs and fades away, and you’re in this one moment with all these new people, and everyone’s happy and getting along and it’s very community driven.”
They’re right. Reflecting on our first visit to the festival in 2024 for LV, we described it as “magical,” while 2025 felt “like stepping into another dimension — a place where we could escape the chaos and stress of the real world for a single night of bliss.”
Despite these and other rave reviews, Salt Fox are anything but complacent. Lost Woods 2026 is packed with new features: a second stage dedicated to electronic dance music, a Lost Woods Bazaar featuring local art vendors and a new art installation called “Magic Moon,” which is, to quote Rogers, “an interactive geodesic dome organ light display.” Or in layperson’s terms, a huge sphere with playable organs that animate LED lights. Built, of course, by Salt Fox in their workshop.
Alongside returning favorites like the Ferris wheel and food truck court, this year also welcomes the introduction of Lost Woods Camp Town. It’s “a Lord of the Rings Shire-esque campground,” says Rogers. The campground comes complete with a community firepit and cooking grate, “a Jurassic Park shuttle” to the festival and a Camp Town Cafe for Sunday morning dining.
Pauli’s eyes light up as he describes the Cafe. “There’s an amazing bakery out of Dubuque [Tchoupitulips] coming to make grilled breakfast sandwiches on homemade sourdough along with Sidecar Coffee.” (A Cedar Falls institution, for the uninitiated.)
That’s Saturday and Sunday covered. And for those wanting to expand the weekend even further, Friday sees the debut of Balkan Night. Lost Woods is hosting musicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We have some friends who are leaders in the local Bosnian community, and after attending last year’s event, they had the idea of hosting an event dedicated to Balkan music and culture at Lost Woods,” Fuchtman said. “The event will occur jointly with Lost Woods, but the musical acts and food vendors are organized by our partners.”
Talking of musicians, Lost Woods 2026 has another superb mainstage lineup. If you’re in the market for lush neo-soul, look no further than Daniel.Xavier & Co. Reverb-drenched college-rock? Twin Cities-based Sallyforth is waiting for you. Warm and poetic lyrics layered upon irresistible synths and beats? Iowa City’s Jim Swim is returning to Lost Woods, and this time he’s bringing friends. Introspective alt-rock is provided by FLAKE, the brainchild of Blake Loggans, while electronic jazz maestros Jack Lion will once again be performing between acts from a vantage point in the trees. And yes, we do mean that literally.
Miami indie-funk darlings Magic City Hippies are the night’s inspired headliner — the second hippie to headline after last year’s euphoric performance from Hippie Sabotage. We can’t wait to hear cuts from their sparkling 2025 release, Enemies. For Salt Fox, the booking represents the intrinsic value of real communal experiences in an era increasingly characterized by recorded fragments — consumed, appreciated and immediately forgotten.
“I just think that they are sort of a live, forward band,” Fuchtman said of Magic City Hippies. “Their core competency is they put on an incredible live show. So for us, we really believe more and more that real experiences are hard to find. And they’re what people are really interested in. You can open your phone and see somebody play music perfectly for 30 seconds infinitely. But watching somebody play real music and do a really good job at it in real life is just a different kind of experience.”
Lost Woods’ new EDM stage — headlined by the grunge-inflected electronica of Hu$H — promises to diversify the festival’s sound with a score of Midwest-based DJs.
Salt Fox were initially planning to invite West Coast artists. “We had reached out, I think, to some L.A. booking agencies, and we had a whole lineup. We were going to bring in like eight artists from L.A.,” Rogers said. “[But] we realized there’s a pretty cool EDM scene here in Cedar Falls, Waterloo and the Midwest. And decided, instead of bringing acts from out of state, we’re going to really go all-in on this local scene and let them run with it.” The Boatman, a dubstep producer originally from Fairfield, embodies the scene’s atmospheric, bass-heavy sound.
As for Salt Fox themselves, they’ll be delivering another performance that underlines why they headlined the festival’s first two years. New July singles — “HOLDIN ON” (featuring the ethereal vocal of Charlotte Blu, who’ll be performing at the festival’s VIP After Party stage) and “NICE AND SLOW” will get a Lost Woods premiere, entwined with older favorites like “Pink Palm Trees” and the cathartic anthem “STARS.”
The band is also experiencing something of a creative zenith right now. “We’ve played less and written more and actually practiced more than I think we ever have before,” Pauli said.
“Something that’s [been] going on recently with us is there’s a creative bug that’s happened within the past year. That’s different. I think we’re starting to hit our stride,” Rogers said.
With a new stage, bazaar and campsite, Lost Woods is another Salt Fox project that aims to be a cozy place to gather and a joyous celebration of art, handcrafted with care. Attendees can follow the White Rabbit and get lost in Iowa’s very own Wonderland.
Event details
Lost Woods Festival 2026
1400 Lone Tree Rd, Cedar Falls
Friday, Sept. 26 & Saturday, Sept. 27
Tickets are available online. General admission passes are $45 and VIP $150, plus service fees. Parking and camping passes are also available online.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s September 2026 issue.
