Keep The Dream Alive Returns with a Love Letter to Denver

The official 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity stream runs July 9–12, raising funds for Youth on Record with 100+ artists, a silent auction, virtual vendors, and a Denver takeover with Digital Drip and Denver EDM Friends.

From July 9–12, Keep The Dream Alive returns with a fully stacked four-day lineup and a mission that goes far beyond the music. Now operating as an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit, KTDA is kicking off this summer with more than 100 artists, a deep visual lineup, a virtual vendor village, a silent auction of exclusive merch, and a Denver in-person takeover raising funds for Youth on Record.

OFFICIAL KTDA PLAYLIST

THE DREAM

What started as a community-driven charity stream has grown into a full-scale nonprofit platform, with this year’s edition landing especially close to home for many of the acts on the lineup. To date, KTDA has raised more than $35,000 for young artists and creative communities, from Detroit, MI as part of a grassroots mission around the GRiZ hiatus in 2020, to Asheville, NC after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

Now, the festival is bringing that support to Colorado, home to one of the largest EDM communities in the country. This year’s beneficiary is Youth on Record, a Denver-based nonprofit helping young artists pursue their dreams in the music industry. The organization empowers young creatives to achieve their artistic, personal, and academic best by employing Colorado musicians and artists as their coaches and mentors.

For KTDA founder Jacob Butler, the mission has always been rooted in showing up where support is needed most. As the project continues to grow, the team hopes to branch into more communities across the country, especially in places where youth arts programs and community resources are being underfunded or left behind.

“When the government or institutions fail those programs, grassroots work becomes even more important.”

Becoming an official nonprofit makes that mission more sustainable. KTDA can now accept donations outside of the livestream, provide tax receipts, operate with its own bank account, and offer easier ways to donate. It also makes KTDA more legible in the eyes of the government, not because the community needed permission to care, but because official status gives the project more tools to do what it has already been doing.

That transition took real work behind the scenes. Murphy Fuller helped carry much of the heavy lifting with the paperwork, while Jacob and Sterling Martin handled the on-the-ground organizing that keeps the project moving. Sterling’s connection to the mission runs especially deep. He grew up in a foster home where his mother, along with Sterling and his sister Silver, opened their doors to more than 100 kids over the years and adopted several of them. That lived proximity to youth care, chosen family, and community support gives KTDA’s mission even more passion behind it.

This year’s stream will also carry a memorial layer, honoring Ace and other community members who have passed in the last year. The weekend is about keeping their memory alive in the same place where so many people first found each other: through music, streaming, and the internet spaces that somehow become home.

THE LINEUP

Streaming Thursday through Sunday on Twitch, the July edition features more than 100 artists with sets spanning bass music, funk, jamtronica, experimental beats, hip-hop, phonk, dubstep, drum and bass, and all the pockets in between.

The lineup is led by major names including Chime, Defunk, and Michal Menert, alongside Future Joy, Bassurgence, Blookah, DEV, Krispee Biscuits, Mantra Sounds, Mikey Thunder, Noetika, Nomi, Paul Basic, Russ Liquid x Since Juleye, Skysia, Two Guys, VIBRVNT, and so many more.

Across the weekend, KTDA will feature a wide range of special programming moments, from Jacob’s “Wooking Around” Q&A slot and the Brooklyn Block takeover with Nothing_Neue, Ehiorobo, Bliss Station, and Flamingosis, to late-night movie weirdness from The Movie Band, A/V-heavy pairings, and a Sunday closeout that feels built for Pretty Lights Fam.

Saturday also brings the in-person streaming event at Meadowlark in Denver with Breezefore, bringing the festival out of the Twitch chat and into the city itself.

THE IN-PERSON MOMENT

For Denver, the community gets the chance to dance together on Saturday, July 11, when Keep The Dream Alive teams up with Digital Drip and Denver EDM Friends for an in-person Digital Drip Takeover at Meadowlark Bar. The show brings KTDA out of the livestream and into the same room for a daytime charity gathering built around phonk, hip-hop, and bass music.

The Denver event runs from 4–9 PM at Meadowlark Bar on Larimer Street and features BREEZEFORE, making their Denver debut from Denmark, alongside Everyst from Atlanta. Local support comes from Underground Selekta, Imperivm b2b Hoodiemane, and Inventor Xem, giving the event a strong bridge between international sound and Denver’s own underground scene.

Even with its roots online, KTDA remains tied to real communities. Digital Drip and Denver EDM Friends have both become part of the city’s foundation, helping create spaces where bass music, visual art, local vendors, and community impact can all exist. Bringing that energy into KTDA makes the Saturday takeover a major heartbeat of the weekend.

THE VISUALS

This year’s visual artist lineup includes Focal Point, JonnAP, Lightbrush, Relic, Sacramental Studios A/V, Shields, Sieg Mattel, Uhnomaly, Wolb, Zpacetree, and a deep roster of other VJs and designers. With guided programming by Liquid Light Lab and artwork by Bear Fruit Designs, the weekend is built to feel like a full digital festival environment from the comfort of your couch.

The visual side of KTDA has become one of its strongest calling cards. It is not just a stream with music and a flyer. It is a whole digital world, shaped by the artists who make the internet feel truly alive for a few nights. The number of visual artists doubled this year and that jump shows how much trust KTDA has built, especially among creators who understand that visuals are not secondary to the experience.

THE VENDORS

KTDA’s Virtual Vendor Village brings in artists and makers including Ahri Artistry, Cartelkuma, Cultch, Icecold Freshies, Malachite Moon, Mariah Leah Design, Mineral Mystic, Neuro Studio, Niknaknits Crochet, Oddball Originals, Queen of Wands Creations, Weird Lizard Art, and more.

This year will also include a silent auction featuring one-of-a-kind items created for the stream, giving supporters another way to donate while directly engaging with the artists and makers around the community. A discount code will also be available for select vendor purchases, helping make the vendor experience more accessible while still pushing support back into the fundraiser.

The vendor village is another reminder that the culture around this music is bigger than the lineup. It is the prints, clothes, fiber art, stickers, visuals, stage pieces, jewelry, and weird little objects too.

THE DETAILS

For a scene that talks constantly about community, this is the part where community becomes actionable. Every donation, vendor purchase, auction bid, shared flyer, Twitch viewer, and person who pulls up to Meadowlark helps push resources toward the next generation of artists.

KTDA’s Linktree will include every way to support the weekend, from the Twitch stream and donation page to the silent auction, virtual vendor links, playlist, and in-person event details.

That is the magic of Keep The Dream Alive. It proves charity work does not have to be quiet, boring, or separate from the culture. It can be loud. It can be weird. It can feel like the internet briefly remembered how to be fun and useful at the same time.

All you have to do is show up.

Keep The Dream Alive streams July 9–12 on Twitch at twitch.tv/keepthedreamalivecs.

The Digital Drip Takeover takes place Saturday, July 11, from 4–9 PM at Meadowlark Bar in Denver.

All donations benefit Youth on Record.

LINKS TO ALL THINGS KTDA

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE DREAM

KTDA extends a huge thank you for the support it’s received this year and wanted to highlight the people who made it possible.

Behind the scenes, the KTDA team includes:

Jacob Butler, Co-Founder
Murphy Fuller, Co-Founder
Sterling Martin, Visual Coordinator
Karrisa Lawrence, Social Media Manager
Jarrett Morgan, Twitch Lead
Kyle Westendorf, who helped bring the LineupLinks.com integration into the event
Lauren Hallez, Vending Coordinator
Kevin Barrett, who created the graphics for July 2026

Promoters: