Space Cadet Festival announces second year lineup

Is Robbie Pfeffer an alien? His musical alias is Spaceman Bob, after all, and he is the force behind the Space Cadet Festival, which has just announced its 2025 lineup of local and touring bands. Either way, his mission certainly involves creating music-oriented happenings on planet Earth.

Pfeffer, who also fronts the band Playboy Manbaby, loves space and wants to share that cosmic joy with everyone. “I wanted to have a repeated festival that we could build, and I wanted it to be more than just a bunch of bands in a field for some reason. Space is such a fun theme; there are so many fun tropes and visual elements, and it felt like it’d be great to have a theme. Always great to give folks an excuse to get dressed up and act silly,” he says.

Pfeffer says last year’s event was a blast, with some very positive takeaways. “We learned it was for sure possible and fun. We ran the whole thing with only two people leading up to the festival, and we received great help from volunteers from The Trunk Space (the festival’s sponsor) on the day of the event. It’s a labor of love because we love the community we get to be a part of, and it’s cool to spend a day watching a whole bunch of bands I like.”
In addition to some of the bands that are appearing, what will be different this time around at the event, Pfeffer says, building on the foundational successes, is that the whole thing will be bigger and better.

“We’ve got Walter Studios on board, and they’ve got significantly better audio and visual equipment than we had access to, and their space is really special and beautiful. I’m stoked to be doing this there, and I feel like the theme is going to be more immersive,” he elaborates.

According to Pfeffer, other essential factors of this fest are that it’s open to all and reasonably priced.

“The festival is all ages and affordable. I know going to a bigger festival is out of my budget, and was definitely out of my budget when I was younger, so it’s cool to have a big ol’ event and keep it DIY and accessible,” he explains.

Even if you don’t know any of the bands, Pfeffer says, just come on through. “It’s worth coming out just to float around space and have a good time. There will be three stages, so you’re definitely going to discover some stuff you like out there in the stars.”

Playing a couple of sets and handling event-organizing tasks will not interfere with his fun, so there’s no need to worry.

“I get to go to space and watch The Red Pears and Suzie True play, that’s pretty exciting to me.”

Here’s the complete Space Cadet Festival lineup:

Playboy Manbaby
The Red Pears
Diva Bleach
Suzi True
Bethany Home
Bummer Girl
Treasure MammaL
Practically People
Spaceman Bob
Mannequins
Belgium Tree
Ring Finger No Pinky
hhharpies
deathdotgov
Slug Bug
Sewer Bitch
Love Noka
Late Nite Boogie will be spinning vinyl

Space Cadet Festival is at 4 p.m. on September 27 at Walter Studios. Tickets are $30, and the event is all ages.