Outside Festival Announces Lineup for Film x Ideas Series, Presented by Columbia Sportswear

April 24, 2024

DENVER, CO – April 24, 2024 /OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ – Outside revealed today the lineup of 21 films selected for the inaugural Outside Festival, set to unfold in and around Denver’s Civic Center Park from May 31 to June 2. From documentaries to adventure shorts, the film lineup is one of the centerpieces of a full weekend of entertainment and education that is certain to captivate audiences. This unveiling marks a high point in an already impressive musical lineup featuring Thundercat, Lettuce, Say She She, Los Mocochetes and DJ Rich Cacao on Saturday, June 1, and Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird, The Heavy Heavy, Nathaniel Riley, and Selasee and the Fafa Family on Sunday, June 2; wall-to-wall experiences taking over downtown Denver; and an additional day of thought-leader discussions with THE SUMMIT taking place on Friday, May 31.

All film screenings will take place at the Denver Art Museum, directly adjacent to Civic Center Park, with films curated in partnership with the Boulder International Film Festival, Telluride’s Mountainfilm Festival, and the Mountains of Color Film Festival. “We’re excited to showcase some of today’s most innovative and diverse adventure filmmakers,” said Jon Dorn, Outside’s Chief Entertainment Officer. “Our goal was to present a film lineup that amplifies stories from historically marginalized athletes and creators, and we believe attendees will be blown away by the storytelling in films such as Wade in the Water, Ashima, WalkingTwo Worlds, Miles To Go, and the other choices we made after receiving more than 100 submissions.”

Festival attendees can secure the best prices for both general admission and VIP packages at theoutsidefestival.com, with general admission festival tickets starting at $44 for a single-day pass and $69 for the full weekend. VIP packages begin at $114, offering an elevated experience featuring enhanced viewing for performances, expedited festival entry, and access to a dedicated lounge area with a private bar away from the general festival hustle. Outside Festival ticket holders will have the opportunity to reserve seats in Film x Ideas venues two weeks before the event.

In addition, Film x Ideas will also feature speakers that include: record-breaking swimmer Diana Nyad, Protect Our Winters founder Jeremy Jones, climate activist and fashion model Quannah ChasingHorse, photographer and filmmaker Cory Richards, Olympic snowboarding champion Shaun White, and many others.

2024 Outside Festival Film Lineup, Saturday, June 1

Feature Film: Wade In The Water

A Journey into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture reclaims the 1,000-year-old tradition of Black surfing. Braiding historical accounts with modern-day testimonials, the film dismantles the racial barriers of conventional surf culture, delves into the overlooked history of Black surfing’s legacy, and honors its current movement—inspiring the next generation of Black surfers. This showing includes a discussion with director David Mesfin.

Film Shorts: Adventure

• Descendance: In a sport known for its lack of diversity, Dennis Ranalter has defied the odds and risen to become an exceptional freeride skier recognized and respected around the world.
• Georgia Astle Flip The Switch: Mountain biker Georgia Astle explores what can happen when you’re able to silence your thoughts and put matter over mind to achieve great things.
• Finding Our Wild: Sid Gopinath and his father embark on a weeklong camping trip to explore Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Along the way, they talk about Prabha’s immigration experience, how memories are made (and forgotten) over the course of a lifetime, and what it means to watch each other grow older.
• Walking On Clouds: Walking on Clouds reveals the breathtaking and dizzying highline crossing between two hot air balloons above the city of Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Slides On The Mountain: With the right guides, a little push, and buoyant optimism, two teenage brothers from the Líl̓wat Nation realize a journey to ski Ts̓zil — a sacred mountain on their territory.

Film Shorts: Journeys

• Soundscape: Soundscape features Erik Weihenmayer, a global adventure athlete and author who is fully blind, as he ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada.
• Wading For Change: For conservationist and angler Jr Rodriguez to become “like the pictures he saw in magazines,” he had to leave behind what he loved the most.
• Waterfall Hunters: Waterfall Hunters follows three Costa Ricans -Javier, Jimmy and Miguel- as they seek to find, document, and inspire others to preserve invaluable ecosystems and habitats in the Costa Rican jungle.
• Jamie: Jamie Logan – a pioneering alpinist – has climbed some of the most dangerous climbs in the world, but nothing felt as life-threatening as admitting that, at age 69, she wanted to begin living as a woman.

2024 Outside Festival Film Lineup, Sunday, June 2

Feature Film: Ashima

One of the world’s youngest elite rock climbers, Ashima Shiraishi spent her formative years breaking numerous age-based climbing milestones, spurred on by her number one fan and coach, her father, Poppo, a retired Butoh dancer and avant-garde performer with no formal climbing experience. When these New Yorkers travel to South Africa to conquer a V14 boulder problem, father and daughter must face their interpersonal struggles in tandem with the challenging ascent. This showing includes a discussion with director Kenji Tsukamoto.

Film Shorts: Resilience

• Tread Setters: On October 5th, 2022 a group of para-cyclists/adaptive athletes set out to ride the White Rim Trail in a day with the hope of creating awareness around people with disabilities and growing a more inclusive cycling community.
• The Right to Joy: After surviving a near-fatal cougar attack while cycling, Izzy Sederbaum overcame anxiety and anti-trans hate by rediscovering the joy of biking and promoting diversity and inclusion in the sport.
• 109 Below: A tale of resilience and grit, 109 BELOW traces the aftermath of an attempted rescue on Mount Washington in 1982.

Film Shorts: Discovery

• Walking Two Worlds: Fueled by an unwavering love and responsibility for the land, Hän Gwich’in 20-year-old Quannah Chasinghorse, and her mother Jody Potts-Joseph are taking a stand to defend their sacred homelands, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Apayauq: Apayauq chronicles Apayauq Reitan’s historic quest to become the first openly transgender woman to compete in the legendary Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska.

Film Shorts: Community

• Breath of Gloster: Peyton Thomas created the Equitable Action Run Toward Health to give a voice to the community of Gloster, Mississippi in a grassroots fight against the wood pellet biomass industry. Breath of Gloster illustrates the dangers that this industry poses to human health, and tells the story of a race that was about more than just miles.
• Outside in Five: Over 100 million of us don’t have outdoor spaces close to where we live. So REI Co-op is partnering with community-led organizations like the Friends of Anacostia Park to help get more people Outside in 5 minutes or less.
• Gath & K’iyh: Listen to Heal: In Alaska, the community comes together to create music with Yo-Yo Ma as a critical part of collective healing and radical hope for the future.
• Miles to Go: In 2022, as several states across the country passed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, trans trail runner Perry Cohen refused to sit idly by. By forming a trail running team of trans men with an aim to compete in states passing hateful legislation, Perry and his team express the freedom to be themselves on and off the trail.
• Inward: This is a film about Atlanta-based artist Michi Meko, a postmodern cartographer and artist who lives within the parallels and meridians of two distinct worlds . . . the Urban world and the Rural world.

In between catching The Film x Ideas series, presented by Columbia Sportswear, at the Denver Art Museum, fans will have the chance to see elite climbers preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics who will be competing all weekend on The North Face climbing wall. Also, Purina Pro Plan will bring the Incredible Dog Experience with exceptional canine athletes to showcase their amazing abilities in feet-flying, gravity-defying performances – a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Also, leading sports and adventure brands like Outside, Backpacker, Pinkbike, Velo, Yoga Journal, RUN, Gaia GPS, and Trailforks will be offering a robust series of skills demos, clinics, and engaging activities to inspire festival attendees to get outside.

To ensure that the environment is interwoven into the festival’s DNA rather than an “after-the-fact” consideration, The Outside Festival has partnered with Green Disco to create a sustainability strategy. From collecting data to measure and understand our impact, eliminating single-use plastics onsite, offsetting our entire footprint, and creating climate-conscious touch points throughout the event, the Outside Festival is taking concrete steps to minimize our environmental impact. The data collected at the inaugural Outside Festival will serve as the backbone to help us pioneer a new standard of operation for festivals in the United States.

Acting as the true kick-off to the Outside Festival, outdoor industry professionals won’t want to miss THE SUMMIT presented by Outside For Business taking place on Friday, May 31, at the Denver Art Museum ​​and serve as a day of inspiration and education for seasoned and aspiring outdoor industry professionals to join critical conversations that are paramount to the future of the outdoor industry. For more information and tickets, please visit TheOutsideFestival.com.

Sponsors for the Outside Festival include The North Face, Liquid Death, Purina Pro Plan, UCHealth, Solo Stove, Columbia Sportswear, Asheville, Ball Corporation, ZOA, Sierra Nevada, High West, Teremana Tequila, Pacifico, L.L.Bean, G Adventure, Colorado Tourism, Partake, SunBum, Laird Superfood, Teva, Osprey, Fjallraven, Mountain House, Tom’s of Maine, Out & Back Outdoor, Royal Robbins, Bacardi, Passenger, Nikwax, Roll Recovery, YMCA of the Rockies, REI Path Ahead Ventures, the State of Colorado, Visit Denver, the Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Outside and the State of Colorado invite the entire outdoor community to join this celebration of the spirit of adventure, music, and togetherness at the Outside Festival this summer in Denver. For more information, including tickets, please visit www.theoutsidefestival.com.

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Media Contact:

Austyn Dineen, Backbone, Austyn.dineen@backbone.media

Photo and Video Assets (Credit Outside)

About Outside Festival

The first-ever Outside Festival will take place in downtown Denver from June 1-2, 2024. This new event is a one-of-a-kind celebration of everything outdoors, featuring music, films, speakers, and gear. The festival is designed for beginners and experts alike, with experiences and inspiration for climbers, hikers, cyclists, skiers, and the everyday recreationist. The Outside Festival is driven by a partnership between Outside Interactive Inc., The State of Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Office, and Visit Denver—all with a shared desire to make the outdoors more accessible and more inclusive. For more information, including tickets, please visit festival.outsideonline.com

About Outside Interactive Inc.

Outside Interactive Inc. is the premier destination for outdoor inspiration, activation, and reward. Each month, Outside reaches 80 million of the most active consumers in the world across its network of 25 media, digital, and technology platforms, creating an experience for both longtime adventurers and those just getting started. Outside’s mission is to get everyone outside. Outside’s subscription offering, Outside+, bundles best-in-class storytelling, videos, gear reviews, mapping apps, online courses, discounted event access, and more to help people experience healthy, connected, and fulfilling lives. Learn more at outsideinc.com.