09 Sep Original Thinkers 2025: 8th Annual Festival of Ideas, Art, & Film!
Telluride-based Original Thinkers (OT) is a media company that curates creative, fresh, thought-provoking programming to shine a spotlight on a host of major voices, artists, thinkers, storytellers and visionaries.
Passes for OT 2025 are now available can can be purchased through the festival’s website, originalthinkers.com
“OT2025 is a celebration of the power of ideas and the remarkable individual who bring them to life. We are excited to welcome an exciting lineup of speakers and performers who will challenge us, inspire us while sparking new conversations that can lead to real world change.,” said David Holbrooke, Founder and Ringleader.
Go here for more on Original Thinkers.
Original Thinkers returns to breathtaking Telluride, Colorado, for the highly anticipated eighth annual festival, taking place October 2–5, 2025.
More than just a gathering, Original Thinkers is a carefully curated experience that blends compelling speakers, documentary films and performances is rooted in the belief that powerful storytelling can ignite meaningful change. The festival’s unique format combines carefully selected media with live, thought-provoking discussions, offering attendees an immersive and deeply personal intellectual journey.
This year OT is focused on taking care of ourselves mentally and physically while the United States – and subsequently the world – goes through a tumultuous and regressive period.
“We could bring in people who could elaborate on how bad the situation really is or give this era a clearer context, but I wanted to go in a different direction. I wanted to find folks who could help us heal and understand how to not go crazy in crazy times,” said Festival Founder and Ringleader David Holbrooke.
Festival highlights include:
• Sabbath Queen, a 20- year project by accomplished filmmaker Sandi Dubowski, which follows the evolution of Rabbi Amichai Lau-Levie who comes from 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis. He is torn between rejecting or embracing his destiny and decides to become a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul —an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.
• Molina Speaks, a spoken-word artist and gatherer who is part of Warm Cookies of the Revolution, a civic health club that aims to meaningfully impact civic health in the state of Colorado.
• Rachel Kolar and Orpheo McCord have been to OT before talking about their work with plant medicine and also offered musical performances.
• Auden Schendler, an environmental thinker, strategist and is the author of a new book called “Terrible Beauty,” which Tom Friedman of the NY Times called “a romp, starting with 3 guys chasing a dust devil. It’s about battle, but joy too. It’s got turtles, gnomes, dirtbags. A tough critique, but inspiring vision.”
• Kate Woodsome was an editor with The Washington Post who left the paper and writes about the critical intersection between mental health and the collapse of democracy.
• A Picnic at the Cemetery will close OT, bringing together guests and audience in one final gathering.
• Ecstatic Dance, Tea Ceremonies and Tea and Tarot
More to come with full lineup and schedule to be released in early September.
Whether you’re a curious mind, creative soul, or change-seeker,OT offers a one- of-a-kind opportunity to engage with the ideas and individuals helping shape a better future — all set against the majestic autumnal beauty of the San Juan Mountains.
Images from OT past that hint at the vibe of OT 2025. (Note: All images included in the narrative below are by Gus Gusciora.):
About Original Thinkers:
Original Thinkers is a boutique ideas festival that combines art, media, and conversation to spark new ways of thinking.
Held annually in Telluride, Colorado, it brings together an engaged community of creators, innovators, and seekers committed to creating impact through imagination.
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