09-03-2025
Edge Fest moves indoors this April, piloting program with crowd favorite Raffoul brothers
CHEYENNE — After 10 years of free concerts, Dave Teubner, Edge Fest founder and owner of Warehouse 21, announced last March that the summer of 2024 would be the final year for the annual event in Civic Commons Park. This decision was made due to it being 'too expensive to maintain' and taking up 'too much time and too many resources' from the community and local businesses who were helping raise the money, he said.
'As it grew, the burden got larger, and that's why we sunsetted it,' Teubner told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Warehouse 21 would raise more than $150,000 in cash for staging, lighting, sound and paying the artists. This amount doesn't include the money they needed for the food and drink carts at the event as well as paying for the Warehouse's labor.
On Tuesday, Edge Fest announced that they're going back to their roots from before they moved the festival outdoors, and piloting a ticketed event called Edge Fest Indoors, starting with 'A Night with the Raffouls' on April 10 at The Lincoln. The Raffoul brothers, Billy and Peter, have played at Edge Fest in 2019 and 2024, respectively. Both of them will perform 45-minute sets and then an encore with five songs together.
Teubner told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle how he and the team at Warehouse 21 have been exploring the idea of moving Edge Fest indoors for over a year and 'kind of crashed into' the event coming in April. He saw that the Raffoul brothers were playing together, knew they were crowd favorites in the capital city, and reached out to them to see if they would play in Cheyenne.
Once they secured the Raffouls, Teubner reached out to The Lincoln, and Edge Fest Indoors was underway.
'We knew we wanted to continue exploring and finding ways to contribute to the arts and music scene, so our thought was to try and partner with The Lincoln and do a test-run to see if we can cover our expenses from a ticketed show and see if it's feasible,' said Teubner. 'Part of the experience for us wasn't just the music, but a digital art form (with) the lights and the digital experience, so we're passionate about that.'
If the pilot with the Raffoul Brothers is well received, Teubner said that they may make Edge Fest Indoors a once or twice a year event, whether they bring back more Edge Fest crowd favorites or new artists.
Teubner also told the WTE that Edge Fest Indoors will likely follow suit with how their brand was 'set' when it comes to the different vibe, bands and types of music they were chasing when thinking of acts to bring to the outdoor event. He explained that they were always trying to fit a niche that Cheyenne didn't have before, and will continue to do so if the event continues.
A post on the Edge Fest Instagram account said that whatever money they have left after expenses for Edge Fest Indoors will go to supporting local artists and the arts scene through the Big 8 Foundation, the nonprofit organization that started Edge Fest in 2014. Some things that Warehouse 21 and the Edge Fest team will be exploring are music scholarships for the youth, studio time for artists, future shows to feed the fund, photography projects, donations back to music and arts organizations and infrastructure projects that support downtown. They're calling it 'concerts with a purpose.'
'Giving money versus asking for money is of interest to us,' said Teubner. 'I think our fans are so great, we're just really grateful for the people that have donated, volunteered and showed up for Edge Fest. … It's a ticketed show, but it goes back to other good things and we're grateful for the support.'
