The best moment's of Denver's Outside Festival, A-

The main entrance sign to the 2025 Outside Festival at Civic Park in Denver, CO

This past weekend, Denver's Outside Festival returned at Civic Park Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and June 1 for its second year. Despite a short pause Sunday afternoon due to severe thunderstorms and heavy rain, there was a great mixture of outdoor guest athletes, speakers and a variety of music. Around 20,000k folks attended the festival for both days, with the mixture of the crowd being younger in their 20's and 30's.  

We break down the best moments of the festival.

1) A diverse music line up for both days

(Above: Musicians perform Saturday & Sunday May 30 & June 1 at 2025's Outside Festival)

The Outside Festival was only for two days, but after speaking with a dozen or so festival goers, Wildfire Reviews learned that most people were there either for Saturday or Sunday and purchased day tickets instead of two-day passes. Thats because the festival's line up was pretty diverse for both days with techno artists leading the main stage on Saturday such as headliners Asian world group Khruangbin and Sylvan Esso, with Sunday topping the bill with indie rockers Lord Huron and bluegrass icons Trampled By Turtles.

2) Sylvan Esso is the highlight of the whole festival

Above: Sylvan Esso performs at the 2025 Outside Festival on Saturday, May 30, 2025

Outside festival got its heavy dose of electronic music when American artist, singer and performer Amelia Meath graced the stage Saturday evening. Although she only performed for an hour, her set was electrified and filled with energy. She had good looks and an outfit to match the music with a wonderful red scarfed top at the beginning of the set. Her voice was incredible throughout the performance, and she blew away even the headliners for the evening. Sylvan is an artist to look out for in the next few years in the music industry.

3) A new outdoor festival for Colorado & the Nation

"We're trying to be the new South by Southwest of Colorado and for all things outdoor activities combined with music," festival creator announced Saturday afternoon to the crowd. Not only did Outside festival have music on both days, but the festival was highlighted by a number of outdoor extreme athletes who spoke at the REI booth at the festival both days, highlighted perhaps by Free Solo climber, Alex Hammond, who spoke about his experiencing in Yosemite and climbing El Cap without any ropes.

4) Waxahatchee was the highlight for Sunday

Above: Waxahatchee performs on Sunday, June 1, 2025 at Outside Festival.

Sunday afternoon a severe thunderstorm rolled into Denver, causing the festival to evacuate all attendees for around an hour and pause the festival. Unfortunately, this was during Waxahatchee's set, which was supposed to be between 5PM and 6PM. She didn't get on stage until around 6:15, and due to the storm, the festival shortened all artist's times Sunday evening so they all could perform, which was understandable. Waxahatchee only performed for 45 minutes, but her voice and guitar playing was soothing and magical, matching well with the banjo and other instruments in her group. She performed a number of songs from her album 'Tiger's Blood.'

5) Trampled By Turtle's performs Pixie's 'Where is My Mind'

Above: Trampled by Turtles performs on Sunday, June 1, 2025

Bluegrass titans Trampled By Turtles performed for around an hour after Waxahatchee. Their electrifying set included an impressive bluegrass version of Pixie's 'Where is My Mind'. Their fast-paced bluegrass got the crowd going and dancing, perhaps even more so than headliner Lorde Huron who performed after them. They also performed a great version of one of their best songs, 'Whiskey' towards the end of their set.

                                                                          Overall: A-
The festival wasn't perfect, with just in it's second year running, but Outside Festival was a fun event to go to for Denver locals. It wasn't perfect because mostly the thunderstorm paused the festival Sunday, which really wasn't the festival's fault but still happened. What made it really not perfection wasn't sound (which was actually fairly good throughout the festival, or lighting), but rather that on both days, the festival openers were better than the headliners (which should be the opposite!). 

More photos from the festival: