The June sun beamed on Denver’s Civic Center Park Saturday, creating for a perfect day to celebrate the great Colorado outdoors.

The Outside Festival did just that.

The inaugural festival — organized by the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, tourism agency Visit Denver and media company Outside Inc. — is a two-day event. Organizers expect 10,000 to 15,000 people to attend over the two days.

“We believe that it’s incredibly important to get people away from their screens and out enjoying the many benefits of nature,” Jon Dorn, chief entertainment officer for Outside Inc., said. “We love the fact that you can do that right downtown in such a beautiful space.”

The event is designed to fill the void left by the departure of Outdoor Retailer, the outdoor recreation industry’s largest trade show, which was held in Denver for several years but returned to Salt Lake City after 2022.

The idea was to add more life to the event rather than just showcasing various outdoor brands, creating something akin to South by Southwest, organizers said.

On Saturday, for example, the sound of bass virtuoso Thundercat boomed throughout the park, legendary snowboarder Shaun White spoke about his work to preserve nature, and competitors scaled a colossal climbing wall.

A stone’s throw away, countless outdoor recreation vendors showed off gear.

“It’s really six festivals in one,” Dorn said. “We’ve got speakers, we’ve got the films, we’ve got the music, we’ve got climbing walls and dog tricks. There’s a little bit of something for everyone.”

Dorn noted that the speakers and the 21 films shown during the weekend are a critical part in “living up to the promise we made to really infuse the festival with values of sustainability and inclusivity.”

For example, all 21 films include adventurers, athletes and filmmakers with diverse background.

REI Co-op also showed rising recreation brands run by Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and Asian American and Pacific Islander business owners through its Path Ahead Ventures program.

Nonprofits like Adaptive Adventures — an organization based in Westminster that provides outdoor sports opportunities for children, adults and veterans with physical disabilities — spotlighted that outdoor inclusivity with a rock wall that could be climbed by people with physical disabilities, like amputated arms and legs.

“We are so excited to be here to make Colorado more accessible and inclusive in the outdoors,” Chelsea Elder, executive director of Adaptive Adventures, said. “This festival has been amazing working with us. We’re just excited to get more people with physical disabilities recreating outside.”

Pat Milbery, a local artist and snowboarder that has created various murals throughout Denver, called the festival an “incredibly monumental moment.”

“From the accessibility of the outdoors to inviting a lot of communities of Denver that could really use more exposure to the outdoors, especially lower-income communities around the city and state. The outdoors should be accessible to everyone,” Milbery said.

He reminisced on hearing the idea for the festival from Conor Hall, now director of Outdoor Recreation Industry for Colorado, while celebrating Hall’s win over cancer in 2022.

“I felt it right there,” Milbery said. “One, I knew it could happen and I believed in his vision. Two, I wanted to help whatever it took because the impact, the effort and the love we could put into it would be so great for so many others.”

Attendees seemed to agree.

“To not only bring issues to the forefront that are going on outdoors just in general in terms of recreation, but also showing folks how to get outside more and show what companies are doing for the consumers,” House said of the importance of the event. “Outdoor recreation is so big in Colorado, and to be able to have that communication back and forth with companies is great.”

The festival continues through Sunday. Fleet Foxes is set to play Sunday evening to close out the festival.

Tickets can be found at festival.outsideonline.com