Steamboat 2027 - The Big Dogs and the Next Big Things

Summer is still hanging on, and I can firmly say we’re over it here at Galleywinter. While we dream of cooler temperatures and live music without the risk of heat stroke, here’s our early look at The MusicFest at Steamboat.

For more than four decades, the Dicksons have built a juggernaut. They found the secret sauce years ago: put a Texas Music festival in a destination worth visiting, then let the mountain do the rest. Others have coped it, but the OG, non-Texas, Texas and Americana music festival still reigns.

The MusicFest at Steamboat, a.k.a. just “Steamboat,” remains a place where the big dogs show up: Pat, Randy, Wade, Stoney, Jack. All the first names you know. All still making the trip.

It’s also a festival where you can run into the next big thing, or even ski alongside it. CoJo, Koe Wetzel and Zach Top all had pre-big-time moments on that mountain. That’s where the stories start, huddled with strangers trying to stay warm. The chatter of “you gotta see…” and “did you hear…” turns into a scavenger hunt to catch somebody before the secret gets out. If you're lucky, you might find yourself in the middle of something that gets talked about for years to come. It's all possible at Steamboat.

Mixed in with your favorites are the noisemakers we’ve had on our radar. River Jam favorites Bri Bagwell and Kat Hasty are on the bill, along with The Smokin’ Oaks, Ashton Naylor, Hank Weaver and Cameron Allbright. If any of them hit, we may be referring to them in another five to ten years just using their first name. You never know.

Steamboat has always been a place where the music, skiing, scenery and late-night fun make the memories run thick. As the Dicksons like to say, “Down Home, Up High.”

MusicFest returns January 5–10, 2027, and one of the early highlights is already obvious: the Artists’ Tribute to a Legend honoring the Randy Rogers Band. We saw and heard the magic that came out of the Cody Canada and the Music of Cross Canadian Ragweed tribute back in 2020, and we plan to have boots on the ground to cover this one.

Packages are already moving, so if you plan to make the mountain in 2027, you should probably get on it. MusicFest packages include six days and five nights of premier lodging, a four-day lift pass plus one night of skiing, and festival credentials for more than 200 hours of Texas, Red Dirt and Americana music.

Packages are on sale now at TheMusicFest.com.