The Outsider | Outside Festival takes a step toward becoming the South by Southwest of the outdoors

Jason Blevins

Outdoors/Business Reporter

Sneak Peek of the Week

Outside Festival, Outside Summit nearly double attendance in year two

35,000

Attendees of the four-day Outside Summit and Outside Festival in Denver in late May 2025, up from 18,000 the previous year

If the goal is South by Southwest for the outdoors, the Outside Summit and Outside Festival last week in Denver is a solid step in that direction.

Attendance at the four-day event — two days of an outdoor industry gathering and two days of a festival in Denver’s Civic Center park — drew 35,000 attendees, nearly doubling the event’s debut attendance last year .

A two-day Outside Summit — with speakers and panels for 950 outdoor industry business leaders, policy makers and athletes — preceded the two-day festival. In the d