Foo & Festivals

Foo Conner is a multi-faceted entrepreneur with music coursing through everything he builds. Producer, venue organizer, tech innovator, and media publisher—his titles shift but his mission doesn’t. For two decades, Foo has created spaces where people belong, from Skatopia’s anarchic 88 acres to Pittsburgh’s neighborhood festivals. Foo’s genius lies in recognizing that accessibility and authenticity aren’t opposites of scale and success. They’re the foundation.

The portfolio below chronicles Foo’s festival and music work. His parallel work in journalism and startup ventures are detailed on companion pages.

Skatopia | Producer

2004–2010 | Rutland, Ohio

Foo Conner launched his career producing the legendary Bowl Bash and Backwoods Blowout festivals at Skatopia, an 88-acre skatepark in rural Ohio. These three-day festivals featured dozens of bands and grew from under a thousand attendees to nearly three thousand by 2010, all while remaining completely free.

As producer, Foo booked the bands, managed the stage, and engineered what he envisioned as “punk rock summer camp,” an escape from society into music. He opened Skatopia’s gates to the mainstream, bringing its underground spirit to wider audiences while protecting its counter-cultural soul. This brought unprecedented attention: Skatopia was featured in Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, earned Rolling Stone’s declaration as “the stuff of legend” in 2008, and was immortalized in the documentary Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy.

The festivals drew devotees who hitchhiked and train-hopped from across the nation. Foo learned to manage controlled chaos and craft moments where music and mayhem merged into memory.

Punk Island | Producer

2010 | Governor’s Island, New York City

After years of friendly rivalry over who could book the most bands, Foo brought his festival production expertise to New York City to produce Punk Island on Governor’s Island, a 172-acre island in New York Harbor. The result was audacious: 18 stages running simultaneously across the island, with record labels like Alternative Tentacles curating their own stages.

118 bands were scheduled. By showtime, 134 showed up, drawn by the chance to reunite with old friends and be part of something unprecedented in scale. Thousands grabbed ferries to catch punk legends like DOA and Negative Approach alongside the next generation of the scene. With no residents on the island, there were no sound limits, just controlled chaos.

The annual Punk Island, according to the New York Times, “transformed the stately island into a punk rockers’ paradise,” and Foo’s 2010 production proved the concept at unprecedented scale. This paved the way for Governor’s Ball to launch the following year. His refinement of community-driven festival production would inspire DIY festivals in other cities, including Pittsburgh’s Deutschtown Music Festival, which he would join later.

It was one and done. The following year, a bigger stage called, and Foo helped organize Occupy Wall Street.

222 Ormsby | Scene Builder

2008–2013 | Pittsburgh, PA

Between festival runs, Foo helped to establish 222 Ormsby, a DIY punk venue in a converted corner grocery store. The all-ages, donation-based space filled a crucial gap in Pittsburgh’s bar-dominated music scene. The space draws musicians, students from Pitt and CMU, and music fans citywide, united by the hunt for the next great song.

Foo worked behind the scenes, providing sound equipment and leveraging his festival connections to bring in national acts. Bands like DOA, Jeff Rosenstock, AJJ, and Laura Stevenson came through the graffiti-painted walls. More importantly, local musicians got their start, including Code Orange.

Throughout his tenure, Foo recorded many of the shows and put them online, promoting the bands that came through and documenting a scene as it grew. When he left at the end of 2013 to help produce Thrival Festival, 222 Ormsby went on hiatus. The building sold, and the venue relaunched in 2019. Though Foo has no involvement today, the spirit he helped build lives on.

Thrival Innovation + Music Festival | Producer

2014 | Pittsburgh, PA

After years of free festivals and DIY venues, Foo tried something different: merging his two worlds as a tech entrepreneur and music producer. The second annual Thrival brought a SXSW energy to Pittsburgh, combining a weeklong innovation conference with a two-day music festival at Bakery Square.

As one of the producers overseeing operations, Foo helped amplify Pittsburgh’s creative and entrepreneurial communities, putting local builders and makers on a national stage. Moby and Portugal. The Man headlined for thousands of attendees, with all proceeds supporting startup incubator Thrill Mill (now named Ascender) in East Liberty.

The conference-festival hybrid worked, but it wasn’t home. After investing significant time in 2015’s planning, Foo handed off his role and went back to what he does best: grassroots community building.

Deutschtown Music Festival | Associate Producer

2015–2019 | Pittsburgh, PA

Foo joined the main producers for Deutschtown Music Festival, a free, family-friendly music event that transformed Pittsburgh’s North Side each summer. Local shops, restaurants, bars, and social clubs became temporary stages for a three-day weekend celebrating every genre from punk to country to hip-hop.

Foo coordinated festival logistics and used his media platforms to bring national attention to the festival. The scale exploded during his tenure, growing from 125 bands to over 400 acts across dozens of stages in a single weekend. According to Pittsburgh City Paper, “Some festivals are harder for less established bands… this one gives so many musicians an opportunity… [which] is a blessing.”

When COVID-19 canceled the 2020 festival, Foo shifted his focus to mentoring entrepreneurs at CMU and managing his newsroom. The festival eventually ended, though another has since taken its place.

Folk the System | Documentarian

Ongoing

Folk the System is a performance series featuring unsigned Americana music from Appalachia and surrounding regions. Foo records, masters, and edits intimate performances that capture the “had to be there” energy of house shows and DIY venues, creating an archive that promotes artists who might otherwise go unheard.

The series features artists like Ramshackle Glory, Endless Mike and the Beagle Club, and Days N Daze, drawing from select performances across Foo’s career.

What’s Next

Foo still hosts shows and interviews major bands, consults and advises other festivals, but production has taken a backseat for now. He’s waiting for the right music to catch his heart—and when it does, he’ll set up the stage tomorrow.