Blucifer’s First Rodeo, a newly-announced local music festival, will gallop into Denver this summer. That’s according to a February 24 Instagram announcement. And the location and dates of this rodeo might sound familiar: It will be on Broadway in late July.
If the festival falls on the weekend of July 24-26 (as was suggested on its now-changed website), it’ll coincide with the revived Underground Music Showcase, which held its 25th anniversary festival on that same stretch of Broadway last summer.
In 2025, the Underground Music Showcase was billed as “the last UMS in its current form.” And it was. At least, on Broadway.
On February 9, 2026, the Underground Music Showcase announced that it’s coming back and moving to RiNo, where it will be held in assorted venues the weekend of July 25-27. Two Parts, the marketing and production company that bought into the UMS over a decade ago, will remain an owner, but the other portion of the festival that was owned by Youth on Record has been transferred to the RiNo Business District.
Does Denver Need a Local-First Festival? Blucifer’s First Rodeo Thinks, Yes.
In opposition to what some consider the no-longer-Underground Music Showcase, Blucifer’s First Rodeo is returning to the spirit of what UMS once was: a DIY, locals event. The festival, named after that devilish horse out at Denver International Airport, is so on the down-low that its organizers are letting social media do all the talking… for now. When contacted by Westword, they declined to comment or announce festival dates, though they said they’ll provide more information soon…