{"id":259963,"date":"2026-04-21T19:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/259963\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:50:07","slug":"north-texas-ubbi-dubbi-festival-set-to-kick-off-rave-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/259963\/","title":{"rendered":"North Texas Ubbi Dubbi Festival Set to Kick Off Rave Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The saddest beach in Texas, Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth, will transform the grassy, sandy banks of the Trinity River into a strobe-lit, trippy Atlantis for Ubbi Dubbi. <\/a>The annual EDM festival, entering its seventh year, carries the theme \u201cInto the Abyss\u201d and will send ravers into another world April 24 and 25. <\/a><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Ubbi Dubbi lineup boasts recognizable DJs such as Xandra, Loud Luxury, Zedd and DeadMau5, but deeper cuts like Joyhauser, Bunt. and Kai Wachi will also bring arhythmic sound waves to Cowtown. The massive electronica rave is only a small portion of the workload for the masterminds behind the festival, Disco Presents. The production team founder, Donnie Estopinal, also owns SILO<\/a>, an upscale EDM club in Dallas that hosts year-round sold-out techno shows. For most, producing back-to-back events all year would be an impossible feat, but for Estopinal, who is affectionately known in the scene as \u201cDisco Donnie,\u201d it\u2019s business as usual.<\/p>\n

After this weekend, Estopinal will focus on the next moves for SILO, which include expanding the venue\u2019s capacity, opening a pizza and record shop next door and cutting the ribbon on a second location in Houston this fall. It sounds like a lot, but Disco Presents has produced more than 19,000 shows, sold more than 19 million tickets across 100 cities, and raised more than $2 million for charity since 1994, so they\u2019re qualified. The production company is also responsible for EDM festivals Freaky Deaky in Austin and Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s Bass All-Stars in Fort Worth. They just acquired Dallas\u2019 Lights All Night. Estopinal is something of an EDM music mogul, and his company has quickly become the largest independent promoter in the state.<\/p>\n

In fact, Estopinal\u2019s devotion to nonstop partying landed him in hot water when 2021\u2019s Ubbi Dubbi,<\/a> only in its second year after canceling the 2020 production, took place just two months after mask mandates in Texas were lifted. The festival required masks to be worn and reduced capacity to 50%.<\/p>\n

\u201cUbbi Dubbi\u00a0in Ennis, Texas, at the Texas Motorplex was the first festival coming out of the lockdown,\u201d Estopinal says. \u201cWe had COVID sniffing dogs. CNN and BBC were coming after me, and honestly, if it didn\u2019t go well, we could\u2019ve crashed the market. But we were diligent about testing, and the numbers were good. It was a success, which was a huge relief to us and the EDM industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estopinal is a man of the people in an industry that\u2019s always fighting to manage its reputation. But Disco Donnie runs a customer-centric business, ensuring customer satisfaction first. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe reverse engineer all events and always start with a fair ticket price, and it\u2019s important to us that we have the lowest ticket prices in the country,\u201d Estopinal says. \u201cI came from the dance floor, and I don\u2019t want anyone to miss a show because of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to Expect of the Festival <\/p>\n

Every good party has a theme, and this year\u2019s nautical dream will stretch across the entire pavilion. To achieve subaquatic conditions, Panther Island Pavilion will be decorated with LED bubble tunnels, a glowing reef structure, projection-mapped environments and anything else that might please the inebriated brains of EDM enjoyers. There are three stages at Ubbi Dubbi: the Ubbi stage with house and techno, the Dubbi stage with more bass-heavy sounds and the Zoom Room, which will host harder, more banging techno, trance and hardstyle. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond the beats,\u00a0Ubbi Dubbi offers interactive experiences and lifestyle programming, including a festival-wide treasure hunt. There will be local food options from Al Forno Pizza, Island Noodles and Festi Bowls alongside retail vendors such as Cosmic Energy, Dreamland Studios and live paintings from Morphis Art. Ubbi Dubbi\u00a0is the start of the spring season for the Disco Presents machine, but it never stops. SILO opened Ductwork, a techno speakeasy, last summer. The smaller room in the back was initially intended for storage, but now hosts intimate, midweek shows. It will host the official\u00a0Ubbi Dubbi\u00a0pre-party with \u00c6on:Mode on April 23.<\/a><\/p>\n

Top 40 hit-maker Alesso will play a sunset show, 2010s techno sensations Deadmau5 and Kaskade will team up for a set under the name Kx5, but of the more exciting sets is San Holo, who will play a \u201cwholesome riddim set.\u201d Riddim is a subgenre of techno characterized by heavy bass and repetitive, wave-like sounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, my wholesome riddim set is riddim for introverts,\u201d San Holo, whose legal name is Sander van Dijck, says. \u201cIt has the beats and bounce of riddim, but the flow and vibe are more wholesome and colorful. It\u2019s my inspiration from dub and riddim, but more emotional. I think riddim can be dark and heavy, but I try to make it colorful. I added chords, melodies and sparkles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Dijck arrives in Fort Worth armed with his fourth album,\u00a0True Love in a Made Up World,\u00a0which drops on\u00a0June 5th. And much like Disco Donnie, Van Dijck also seems to be in the dance music industry for the right reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never compromise with my art, and I\u2019ve been asked to,\u201d Van Dijck says. \u201cThe music industry is made-up, but my music is my true love, and my truth is in my music \u2014 my way. I think the world is becoming increasingly made-up, especially with AI. I hope that people can see it and feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estopinal\u2019s dedication to curating an experience trickles down to the DJs and into the attendees, certifying a memorable experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cDisco Presents really cares about the experience from start to finish,\u201d says Honeylov, a house DJ recognized for her identifiable soul-influenced sound. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about stacking a lineup, it\u2019s about the energy in the room, the flow of the night, how the crowd feels when they walk in and when they leave. As a DJ, that matters because I can take people on a real journey instead of just playing moments. It gives me space to be intentional and actually connect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gates for Ubbi Dubbi open at 3 p.m. on April 24 and 25 at Panther Island Pavilion (395 Purcey St.) in downtown Fort Worth. The final set each night will end at midnight. Single-day tickets start at $110. Two-day general admission passes are available for $210, with a few VIP options remaining. Additional information is available on the festival\u2019s official website. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The saddest beach in Texas, Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth, will transform the grassy, sandy banks of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1467,2530,15138,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-259963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-concert-previews","9":"tag-drugs","10":"tag-edm","11":"tag-fort-worth","12":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","13":"tag-fort-worth-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}