Buckle up for Cowapalooza 2025, the third and maybe final round of Denver’s rowdiest DIY music fest, brought to life by psych grunge band RUGBURN at their legendary Cap Hill “Cowtown” house (click here for the address). On Saturday, August 30th, starting at noon, this all day rager that will go down as the wettest, wildest yet, with 13 killer bands including a special guest from Las Vegas, Pure Sport. The show will take all attendees on a quest of mind melting mix of psych, grunge, and everything in between. For just $15 at the door or via Venmo (@Rugburn666), it’ll have a DIY house party vibe with plenty of kegs, flash tattoos, art vendors and the return of Big Al’s Lemonade Stand.
RUGBURN are feeling brand spanking new fresh off their second tour of 2025 and recording their sophomore album. They’ve curated their biggest lineup yet, featuring friends from the Colorado scene and beyond, many connected through the High Plains Psych Exchange compilation. Expect a tighter, more collaborative fest this year, with lessons learned from past Cowapalooza’s. Picture makeshift stages, a “Mooooooo” cheering crowd (that is all love, not boos), and memories like crowd surfing from garage roofs or spraying the crowd with a hose to beat the heat. While RUGBURN hints this might be Cowapalooza’s last hurrah, they’re already thinking bigger by teasing a potential new festival in a Boulder venue with local business backing it.
Don’t miss this final chance to get wild in the DIY magic of Cowapalooza. Grab a spot, bring your friends, and help RUGBURN make this farewell unforgettable, at least until whatever comes next.
303 Magazine recently spoke with Cowapalooza’s founder on what to expect from this year’s festival.
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303 Magazine: Many of the bands on the lineup appear to be connected with High Plains Psych Exchange. Did you have a pre-existing relationship with them or did those connections form through organizing the festival and compilation?
RUGBURN: Most of the bands on the lineup are friends we’ve made by either playing shows or going to shows. The psych compilation didn’t play a large part in finding the bands this year. Funny enough though, RUGBURN’s first show ever was this house party with Yard Art! Nick and Caitlyn from that band became the master minds behind High Plains Psych Exchange. So we became friends and they reached out to us about including a RUGBURN song on last year’s compilation vinyl. We were touched.
303: What can attendees expect from this year’s Cowapalooza in terms of vibe, performances and the overall experience?
Cowapalooza is all DIY so basically just expect a bitchin’ house party! No frills, all thrills. There’s some of the best psych bands in the CO scene playing this year! We built the biggest bill yet to date, 13 bands in total, including some of our friends all the way from Las Vegas! Pure Sport is the only exception to all CO bands but they’re a worthy exception. Get there early! No band should be missed.
303: Will there be any major differences between this year’s Cowapalooza and previous years?
RUGBURN: Honestly, every year we learn something about putting on a smoother festival. So organization will be better…hopefully! More collaboration with other friends who help put this thing on. It takes a village. Other than that it’s going to closely resemble last year’s festival. More bands this year! More kegs this year! Flash tattoos and art vendors will be slinging goods inside all day. Plus, we will have Big Al’s Lemonade Stand returning this year.
303: You’ve hinted that this might be the last Cowapalooza ever. Can you give us a rough idea or even a hint about what might come next?
RUGBURN: Without giving too much away, I want to go BIGGER! That means trying to find a proper festival venue (got my eyes on a spot in Boulder) and collaborating more with friends who can help organize a fest with me and local businesses who can potentially help sponsor. Stay tuned!
303: Your band, RUGBURN, has performed at festivals like UMS, Psych Peak Fest and Roots Music Festival. How does Cowapalooza compare or contrast with those in terms of the general vibe?
RUGBURN: Cowapalooza is much smaller and way more DIY. I try to make it as glorious as I can with the limits I’ve been given. It’s way more low key and basically just us hanging and celebrating the scene with all of our friends and everyone going nuts.
303: Where did the original idea to start Cowapalooza come from and what’s the story behind the name “Cowapalooza”? It’s a funny and memorable choice.
RUGBURN: Cowapalooza is hosted at my roommates and I’s house in Cap Hill. For as long as I or anyone can remember, the house has been called “Cowtown.” They say the first ever Denver rodeo was hosted in the backyard. Cowapalooza just spawned from that name. I’ve always thought throwing your very own music festival would be the raddest thing ever. Cowapalooza is my best attempt at doing that.
303: What’s the craziest or funniest memory you have from a previous year’s Cowapalooza?
RUGBURN: Certain years are more turnt than others. I’ll keep it at that. Some crazy but appropriate memories include Marcus from LEGS the band climbing on the garage roof and crowd surfing back to the stage, Moonlight Bloom covering “Red House” and talking about killing me (in a way only close friends could) and having a kiddie pool on the roof the first year because it was so hot and standing up there with the hose and spraying the crowd to cool everyone off. One funny memory is at some point we started saying “Mooooooo” as a form of cheering at Cowapalooza. So it sometimes sounds like we’re booing the bands but in fact it’s a hearty “Moooo”.
303 Magazine: Since it’s a DIY festival, what do the stages look like? Are they makeshift setups, or do you have something more structured planned?
RUGBURN: They’re all makeshift setups. Last year I briefly entertained the idea of building stages and putting bands on the roof but my friends wouldn’t let me do it.
303 Magazine: As a three piece psychedelic fuzz rock band, how does RUGBURN’s sound influence the overall curation of the Cowapalooza lineup?
RUGBURN: Well, Cowapalooza is a psych heavy lineup. Birds of a feather, I guess. That being said, we have other styles and genres too! My music tastes are pretty diverse so I like to incorporate all sorts of music and bands in a lineup.
303 Magazine: With RUGBURN’s debut album released last fall, how has that milestone impacted your approach to organizing this year’s festival?
RUGBURN: I’m not sure if it has in any direct way. In roundabout ways it’s made it harder to organize this festival. Since finally putting out music we’ve played a lot more shows and befriended a lot of kickass bands. There are so many great bands in the local scene right now. The lineup this year filled up crazy fast. I had to turn a lot of great bands away this year. It was tough. That was a new thing this year. And since we’re playing a lot more shows this year I’ve had a harder time managing my time to get everything in place for the fest. On the flip side, since meeting more people I now have more collaborators to help organize this thing as well. It’s been very nice to have more support this year! I love meeting new people in the scene and throwing DIY events is one of the best ways I can think of to get more people involved in their local scene.