Of The Trees Plants Roots in Telluride With Surreal Debut of Camp Alderwild

From the moment Of The Trees conceived the idea of Camp Alderwild, it was clear that this wasn’t meant to be just another weekend on the festival circuit.

Instead, it would be a rare convergence of music, community and landscape in one of the most scenic settings in the United States. The two-day, single-stage gathering unfolded August 23–24 in the heart of Telluride Town Park, marking the long-awaited return of electronic music to Telluride since Pretty Lights’ two-day run back in 2015.

The San Juan Mountains framed every moment, their towering walls reminding us that Camp Alderwild was designed with nature in mind as much as music. With doors opening at 5pm each evening and sets wrapping at 11pm to respect local sound ordinances, fans spent their days exploring the surrounding hikes, breweries and cafés before descending on Town Park.

Shuttle service and Telluride’s walkable downtown kept the energy communal, giving the weekend the feeling of a small-town get-together rather than a sprawling festival.

Musically, Alderwild struck a balance between big-name headliners and adventurous curation. EDM.com Class of 2024 star Of The Trees closed both nights with performances that mixed old favorites with unreleased tracks, capped on Saturday by a heartfelt thank-you to fans for making his vision a reality.

Before him, Jade Cicada delivered his patented glitchy bass textures, Tycho expanded into dreamy, organic-electronic soundscapes with his live band, and Ott. unraveled a psychedelic, dub-soaked journey. The undercard added its own flair as Eprom flipped expectations with a slow-burning “Underclock Set,” Taiki Nulight stitched UK garage into dubstep grooves, and Thought Process showcased a live band approach rarely found in this corner of electronic music. Early slots from Air Castles and Curra gave local flavors to the lineup.

Alderwild extended beyond the main stage with afterparties across two Telluride venues, featuring headline sets from LYNY, Freddy Todd, Eprom and a rare DJ set from Tycho. A Saturday afternoon pop-up in nearby Mountain Village and a Sunday mountaintop pool party stretched the experience into something more like a weekend-long residency than a traditional festival.

Perhaps the most striking element of Camp Alderwild was its sheer genuineness. Where many large-scale festivals tilt toward commerce, this event leaned into authenticity. Respect for the town, the land and each other was built into its ethos. The crowd responded in kind, turning it into a space that felt both celebratory and grounded.

Telluride is no stranger to destination festivals—its famed Bluegrass Festival has drawn crowds to Town Park for decades, blending music with the region’s natural majesty. But where Bluegrass has long celebrated Americana traditions, Camp Alderwild offered a new chapter in the town’s cultural story, one rooted in electronic experimentation and a younger community of fans.

By honoring Telluride’s intimate scale while pushing its festival identity in a new direction, Alderwild felt like the natural evolution of a town that knows how to marry music with mountains.

With its combination of curated music, small-town charm and the unmatched backdrop of Telluride’s iconic peaks, the event made a convincing case for itself as more than a one-off experiment. For fans of Of The Trees—and for anyone chasing a festival experience rooted in connection—the city may have just found its next great tradition.

Follow Of The Trees:

Instagram: instagram.com/ofthetreesmusic
TikTok: tiktok.com/@ofthetreesmusic
X: x.com/ofthetrees
Facebook: facebook.com/ofthetrees
Spotify: spoti.fi/2YxTKb9

The post Of The Trees Plants Roots in Telluride With Surreal Debut of Camp Alderwild appeared first on EDM.