DENVER (KDVR) — After 25 years of shaping South Broadway’s music and nightlife culture, the Underground Music Showcase will take its final bow this summer.

Organizers announced that this year’s event — scheduled for July 26–28 — will be the last. The news is bittersweet for many of the local businesses and venues that have helped defined the experience, and in return, been defined by it.

The event, which started as a small-scale showcase, grew into Colorado’s largest independent music festival — drawing thousands to the South Broadway corridor each year. Over time, bars, breweries, scooter shops and retail storefronts transformed into unofficial venues, offering backdrops for a rotating lineup of local and national acts.

“You have 45 minutes of music, a 15-minute changeover, and then a new band — every hour,” said Will Curtin of Banded Oak Brewing Co. "It’s nonstop.”

Jared Berger, general manager of Sportique Scooters, said the festival brought more than just music to the neighborhood.

“I live in the neighborhood, I work in the neighborhood,” Berger said. “I’ve seen UMS evolve for years. It’s changed, but always for the better."

UMS has helped launch careers and sustained the independent music scene in Denver for more than two decades. Organizers say rising costs and an evolving industry ultimately led to the decision to end it this year.

But many local business owners say the impact of the festival will be felt long after the final encore.

“It’s just a gathering of a ton of really fun people,” Curtin said. “Broadway is going to miss out for sure.”

Still, there’s optimism that something new may grow in its place.

“I don’t doubt someone else might carry that torch,” Berger said. “But for the people who have been running it for all these years, it’s going to be absolutely wonderful.”

UMS 2025 will take place July 26–28 across venues in the South Broadway district.