A Brief Guide to Ghost Canyon Fest 2026

Midwife, photo by Tom Murphy

Denver’s premier left field music festival spanning weirdo heavy music to ambient, noise rock to post-hardcore and avant-pop among others runs Thursday August 26, 2026 through Sunday August 30, 2026 in various venues. Below is a brief description of the artists with links. For more information and to buy tickets please visit: ghostcanyonfest.com.

Holy Sons in 2011, photo by Tom Murphy

Th 08.27 at HQ doors 7pm
Wax Trax Music Panel: DIY In the Age of Slop: A Discussion Sponsored by Smashed Plastic: Local music heads discuss the perilous future in the age of tech bro oligarch vampires. 7pm

Ryan Wong & Sunswept: A fusion of improvisational impulses weave together guitar and cosmic flute soundscapes. 8:45pm

Kathryn Mohr: Psycho-cinematic pastoral ambient grunge folk. 9:30pm

Holy Sons: Dark psychedelic industrial folk drone. 10:30pm

Six Organs of Admittance, photo from Bandcamp

F 08.28 Free In Store at Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar 4pm
Prairiewolf: Library music jazz kosmiche in the extended IDM spectrum. 4:15pm

Six Organs of Admittance: Tripped out extradimensional ritual folk noise. 5pm

Steve Von Till, photo by Bobby Cochran

F 08.28 Hi-Dive 7pm doors
Supreme Joy: Psychedelic No Wave post-punk. 410,757, 864, 530 Dead Carps can’t be wong. 7pm

Dust Congress: Self-styled “pioneers of the depressive realism genre” but really deconstructed baroque pop. 7:45pm

Silkworm: Influential, scrappy, angular, emo-adjacent noise rock. 9:15pm

The Gotobeds: Like a 90s K Records band fueled by a punk interpretation of C86. 8:30pm

Steve Von Till: Apocalyptic drone psych Americana from one of the founders of Neurosis. 10:30pm

claire rousay, photo by Katherine Squier

S 08.29 Bug Theate doors 12:30pm doors
Nora Mal: Pastoral shoegaze from Salt Lake City joined by Chaz Prymek of Lake Mary and Mike Fuchs of Passive Tourist. 1pm

Shane Parish Plays Autechre Guitar: Improvisational guitar wizard interprets the electronic music and tonal detail of Autechre for acoustic instrumentation. 1:45pm

Daniel Higgs: Poet, mystic, visual artist and legendary singer/lyricist for Lungfish. Keen crafter of transcendent ambient psychedelia. 2:45pm

claire rousay: Masterful musique concrète ambient collage pop. 3:45pm

Moor Mother, photo by Ebru Yildiz

S 08.29 Hi-Dive 6pm doors
Watch Yourself Die: Borderline terrifying confrontational performance art post-punk prog. 7pm

Blacks’ Myths: Free-associating free jazz and drone collage commentary on cultural historical moments. 7:45pm

ABANDONS: The sound of civilization collapsing and evolving into more exciting forms. 8:30pm

Water Damage: Organic motorik Neu!-esque drone rock featuring noteworthy members of Austin’s experimental scene including Thor Harris. 9:15pm

Moor Mother: Avant-garde free jazz noise and the poetry of cultural heritage. 10pm

Kowloon Walled City: Colossal and crushing post-hardcore noise rock. 11pm

Arson Charge, photo from Bandcamp

Su 08.30 Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar free in-store, show 1:15pm
Burn Barrel: Kansas City-based crushing post-hardcore noise rock including members of Canyons. 1:30pm

Circling Over: Melancholic, transcendent, shoegaze-adjacent post-metal. 2:15pm

Arson Charge: Thrashcore scorchings of the baked in abuse of human culture. 3pm

Dead Rider, photo from Bandcamp

Su 08.30 The Skylark Lounge 4pm doors
Blööd Ôath: Demented and thrillingly abrasive metallic post-punk like a collision of Oblivians and The Cramps. 5pm

Infinite Ohm: Hypnotic drones and other mind-altering sounds courtesy Justin Lemons (and the name of his studio, label and this project). 5:45pm

Violenteer: Brooding, menacing and caustic industrialized noise rock for fans of Unsane and Shellac. 6:30pm

Great Falls: Relentless and unhinged mathcore. 7:15pm

Dead Rider: Left field noise rock and experimental electronic strangeness with connection to avant-guitar rock band U.S. Maple. 8pm

Midwife: Cathartically heartbreaking ambient folk heavenmetal. 9pm