Bigger and Better: What's New at This Year's Outside Festival

Last year, more than 18,000 people showed up to Denver's inaugural musical, wellness and outdoor extravaganza that is Outside Festival. This year, organizers are expecting more than 25,000 between May 31 and June 1, according to Outside Festival executive director Chris Jerard.

Outside Festival is launching its second iteration at Denver's Civic Center Park with 40 percent more space, new experiences, a lineup of live musicians including Khruangbin and Lord Huron, speakers like magician and endurance performer David Blaine, a film festival in partnership with Mountainfilm, wellness classes and more. "It really is a circus," Jerard says.

Of course, it's also an event for outdoor enthusiasts. "Whether you’re a hardcore hiker/biker/climber/skier or you’re just getting ready to go on your first hike or have a sandwich in the park, we consider that part of our mission of getting outside, and our mission is to get everyone outside," Jerard says.

Before the fest itself begins, organizers are hosting a summit for the outdoor industry starting on May 29, which Jerard says is "a conference where folks from all of the major brands, nonprofits and policymakers come together to network and share content."

And around town, there will be related events, such as the Adventure Travel Trade Association's AdventureELEVATE meeting May 28-30, Troutfest on May 31 at Coors Field, and the International Speedclimbing World Cup May 31 and June 1 on 16th Street. "The week around this is really starting to become 'Outside Week,'" Jerard says. "That’s always been the idea, to activate in Civic Center Park and see this grow all throughout downtown."

That's evident from Outside Festival's expanded footprint for this year, which spans from the northernmost end of Civic Center Park to the Denver Art Museum for the Outside Summit and Outside Film Festival, as well as the Denver Central Library for more talks and activities, such as a Shark Tank-style competition. "We had 200 start-ups apply for that and whittled it down to five," Jerard says.

The Outside Festival came to be after Conor Hall, then the brand-new director of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, got the idea for creating an outdoor festival that had the potential to be the South by Southwest of the outdoor recreation industry. With Outside Inc. — the parent company of Outside magazine that had moved to Colorado from New Mexico after Robin Thurston purchased it — the state had an obvious partner, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Governor Jared Polis joined Hall in February 2024 to announce the new festival coming just months later.

One big lesson organizers learned last year is that the festival needs to have more food. "We had more people show up than we anticipated, so the lines at the food trucks were really long," he says. "So this year, we'll have a culinary campus that has local eateries and locally sourced food that's just a little bit quicker. So if you're with your kid and they need to eat, they don't have to wait in line for twenty minutes." The Culinary Campus will be along 14th Avenue near the Denver Art Museum.

The Outside Festival is being funded by Outside Inc. with the help of ticket sales, food, beverage and merchandise sales, along with title sponsors Capitol One and REI, as well as more than a hundred other sponsors, including the state's Economic Development Commission. In partnership with the Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation and Visit Denver, the Economic Development Commission contributed a grant "just over $300,000," Jerard says.

"The state is not funding this; they’re contributing to this as a sponsor would," he adds. "They are a founding sponsor, because before we ever did this, they believed in it. The state, the city and Visit Denver are essential to our success."

Although Outside recently laid off twenty employees on the editorial, product, marketing, sales and finance teams (eight of them in Colorado), the company attributes that move to the addition of Inntopia to the Outside portfolio, and says it will not affect the festival. "With the integration of Inntopia into Outside's platform, travelers heading to the Festival and Summit will have the option to book their travel directly through Inntopia, and Outside+ members will receive exclusive benefits for doing so," a spokesman noted after the move.

And despite Civic Center Park renovations slated for next year, Jerard says the fest will go on. "We’ll have a festival in 2026," he promises. "If it’s in Civic Center Park, we’ll be delighted, and if it’s not, we’ll be equally delighted because it really goes to our plan – we intend for this to grow."

Outside Festival, May 31-June 1 at Civic Center Park, Visit festival.outsideonline.com for a schedule of events, the lineup and tickets, which start at $86.83.