Camp Alderwild’s last year approaches in Telluride. What’s ahead for next year?

Camp Alderwild barely had time to say hello to its new Telluride digs last year, but the EDM festival organized by Denver music producer Of The Trees is already bidding adieu after its second year.

This year’s edition — set for Friday, Aug. 28, and Saturday, Aug. 29, at Telluride Town Park — will be the last one held in the San Juans before the team expands Alderwild into a bigger, yet-to-be-announced location. But the opportunity to host the new festival in such an island in the sky was too hard to pass up, according to Jay Rogovin, longtime Of The Trees manager and Camp Alderwild co-organizer. Even if the team had less than a year to put it all together.  

“When we first started talking about doing a festival or outdoor event, we would send each other photos of Telluride. Like, ‘Can we do this? Can it happen here?’” he says.

Telluride’s history with EDM music didn’t inspire too much confidence in the possibility of holding Camp Alderwild there. At the time, it had been ten years since Pretty Lights played a two-night run in Telluride Town Park, and the community reception wasn’t necessarily warm and fuzzy. But enough time had passed, and Of The Trees, real name Tyler Coombs, was set on bringing electronic music back to the picturesque box canyon venue. 

“There was an opening last second … we had just done our double Red Rocks in November (2024), and they said you have until 4 p.m. to make a decision on whether or not you guys want to do this,” Coombs says.

It didn’t take long for the team to answer: “We have to do this,” recalls Rogovin, who’s also the co-founder of Kompass Music Group.  

“This place was the dream, doing something here,” he continues. “The view from town park is unbelievable. It’s a dream to be able to paint that canvas.”  

Last year’s Camp Alderwild landed better than anyone could expect, and what was supposed to be a one-off weekend turned into another go-round.  

“The town really took to us and the crowd. We really tried to leave it better than we came to it. We were invited back,” Rogovin says. “We felt like there was a little bit of unfinished business. We wanted to have a more robust year of planning, instead of it being a short-and-sweet thing where we were kind of just cramming everything into it the best we could do.” 

Headlined by Of The Trees and Daily Bread, the weekend’s lineup also includes Detox Unit and KOAN Sound, teaming up for a back-to-back set, and EAZYBAKED. Of The Trees is planning a little surprise, too, Rogovin teases.  

“We have an incredible new production that we’re debuting,” he says. “I don’t think anyone in this genre has done anything like this before. We’re really excited about that.” 

The extra lead time also allowed the team to plan even more activations and offerings, including fly-fishing classes, mountaintop yoga and morning hikes. The pop-up in Mountain Village, a short free gondola away from Telluride proper, is returning as well. Incorporating and embracing the natural beauty and landscape of the surroundings is really what Alderwild is all about, and while this might be its Telluride goodbye, at least for now, the event is returning again next summer in a more amped-up way, including more days and stages. Of The Trees will be sharing the new home from the stage Saturday night.    

“That’s what this year represents. It’s closing the loop,” Rogovin says.  

“We put our hearts and souls into this. We said this is going to be a great launching point for future years of doing something else,” he concludes. “We’re looking forward to next year.” 

Camp Alderwild, 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, and Saturday, Aug. 29, Telluride Town Park, 500 East Colorado Ave., Telluride. Tickets are $135-$240.