Fifty-five bands are descending on Trinidad, Colorado next weekend for the second year of Fancy Spider Music Fest, a three-day sprawl of punk, metal, folk, hip hop and jazz taking over the small border town from October 9 through 11, 2026. The lineup ranges from a Denver riff-heavy rock outfit to an Austin proto-metal power trio, with comedy and a yoga session set to pedal steel guitar thrown in for good measure.
The festival is the brainchild of Curtis Wallach and Suzanne Magnuson, who also own and operate the Trinidad Lounge on Commercial Street and host a radio show introducing the festival's performers, according to Westword. Wallach co-owns Denver's storied Hi-Dive, and the pair bought a house in Trinidad in 2021 before putting down roots in the town's music scene, per the same report. They previously ran the Honky Tonk Hodgepodge, telling Westword in an earlier interview, “We did the last Hodgepodge in 2023, and knew we'd take a year off and then bring something to Trinidad.”
Wallach has described the labor behind pulling off Fancy Spider in blunt terms, saying the festival takes sleepless nights and extensive work to produce, the outlet notes. This year's event invited back about a dozen acts from the inaugural festival, folding them in alongside dozens of newcomers across the bill.
Headliners and Standout Acts on the Bill
Colorado Springs punk band Cheap Perfume, which has toured with the Descendents and Subhumans and carries a riot grrrl-esque edge, will perform in a headlining slot. Also on the bill is Killer Envelopes, an old-wave, punk-infused synth-pop act fronted by Jeremy Pysher, who doubles as a comedian and will co-host a comedy show with fellow comic Nathan Lund during the weekend.
The genre sprawl runs deep. Townies, Trinidad's resident punk band, will bring their punk, power-pop and garage sound to a local stage, while Denver's Pink Fuzz delivers riff-heavy rock and Love Gang channels a Black Sabbath-style heaviness. Fort Collins psych-punk group Spliff Tank and Austin's proto-metal trio the Well round out the louder end of the bill, with late-night basement dance parties promised at the Well.
On the roots and country side, Casey James Prestwood, founder of Hot Rod Circuit and known for neo-classic country, also performs with Jelly Roll. The Deslondes, who released Don't Let It Die, Vol. 1, and popular performer Chris Acker add to the Americana-leaning corner of the schedule. Garrett T. Capps brings psychedelic Tex-Mex sounds and has drawn praise from Augie Meyers, Joe King Carrasco, Santiago Jiménez Jr. and Rosie Flores.
Trinidad-based musician Madeline Johnston, part of the Denver DIY scene, will appear with her experimental pop project Midwife. Rattlesnake Milk, which released Chicken Fried Snake in 2022, is working on its next full-length album and will also take the stage.
Free Stages, Yoga and a Name Rooted in Local Lore
Beyond the ticketed shows, the festival includes free performances at local businesses and six official free venues, plus a decidedly mellow counterpoint: a Sunday morning yoga session set to pedal steel guitar. The festival's name nods to a local phenomenon — thousands of tarantulas that migrate through the area each year seeking mates, according to Westword.
Festival organizers frame the weekend as more than entertainment. Fancy Spider is meant to provide an economic boost to Trinidad, Westword reports, with businesses like Trinidad Kayak Company, owned by Mike McDaniel and Julie McDaniel, plugged into the town's broader pitch to visitors. McDaniel has said Trinidad is a unique and interesting place to visit, particularly in summer months.
A Bigger Lineup, A Steeper Price Tag
The festival's growth is notable on paper. The inaugural 2025 edition featured more than 50 bands across five ticketed stages and nine unofficial venues, according to the Colorado Sun. That first year, Magnuson and Wallach secured a $10,000 grant from the city's lodging tax fund, which designates 10% of its revenue to support art and cultural events, the Colorado Sun reported. Local businesses also chipped in — a car dealership offered parking and a portable-toilet company kicked in free hand-washing stations.
Ticket pricing has shifted between the two years. Westword reports the 2026 festival charges $50 per day or $125 for the full weekend, while the Denver Post separately listed full-festival access at $100, with single-day passes available if capacity allows. The Denver Post also described this year's expansion as bringing indoor and open-air shows from more than 50 local and regional acts across genres spanning punk and hip hop to folk, metal and jazz.
Why Trinidad Is Betting on Live Music
The festival arrives as part of a broader push to draw tourists and investment to a town that has struggled to grow. Trinidad's population has remained flat at around 8,000 for more than 30 years, according to a separate Colorado Sun investigation, even as public and private investors have funneled more than $150 million into the town over the past decade. That same reporting found Trinidad has not yet overcome its central barrier to economic growth: a persistent lack of good-paying, on-the-ground jobs, compounded by stiffer competition for its recreational marijuana market since New Mexico legalized the drug in 2023.
Boosters have cast festivals like Fancy Spider as one piece of the puzzle, with the Denver Post noting that Trinidad's small population and relative isolation have made local leaders eager to attract more tourism and investment. The Colorado Sun's festival coverage captured a town-wide buy-in, observing that everyone in the T-shaped downtown wants in on the action as the event folds venues across the business district into its footprint.
