The History of Ubbi Dubbi

Who Makes It

Ubbi Dubbi is a Disco Presents festival. The company was founded in 1994 by James "Disco Donnie" Estopinal, who came up in the New Orleans dance scene of the 1990s, and it traded the name Disco Donnie Presents for Disco Presents at its 30th anniversary. It also runs Freaky Deaky in Texas, among others. Wikipedia describes Ubbi Dubbi as the company's festival brand built around two characters, Ubbi and Dubbi, and the split between them is the whole idea: Ubbi stands for house and techno, Dubbi for dubstep, trap and bass. Our genre guide sorts the 2027 lineup along that line.

2019: A First-Year Sellout

The first Ubbi Dubbi ran Saturday and Sunday, April 27–28, 2019, on the riverfront at Panther Island Pavilion. A press release the venue published afterward said it sold 45,000 tickets over the two days. Saturday's bill had Zeds Dead, Galantis, NGHTMRE, Keys N Krates and Claptone; Sunday had ILLENIUM, Tchami, Chris Lake, SLANDER and Ganja White Night. Illenium used his set to premiere "Good Things Fall Apart," his collaboration with Jon Bellion. Afterward the promoter gave $15,000 to three local groups: the Fort Worth POA's Cops for Kids, Fort Worth B-Cycle and Girls Rock Fort Worth.

2020 and 2021: The Pandemic Years

There was no 2020 festival. The fullest account we could find is Wikipedia's, which says the follow-up was postponed because of COVID-19 and that the plan had been to merge it with Freaky Deaky into one bigger event called Ubbi Dubbi Gets Freaky Deaky. We couldn't find a dated announcement to confirm the details, so treat that part as unverified.

The 2021 edition, April 24–25, left Fort Worth for Texas Motorplex in Ennis, about 40 miles from Dallas, and added camping. Pollstar reported capacity cut to 50%, masks required and handed out, and an estimated 30,000 people a day, and called it the first major, legal and sanctioned music festival held in the U.S. during the pandemic. Disco Presents' about page goes further, calling it "the first festival back in the US" with 60,000 tickets sold. Pollstar's qualifiers are the more careful version. Estopinal's line from the stage, as Pollstar quoted it, was "You saved the rave."

Kaskade, Seven Lions, Kill The Noise, Seth Troxler and Adventure Club played the Saturday; Illenium, Green Velvet, Gryffin and TVBOO were on Sunday. Wikipedia credits the promoter with another $35,000 to local charities that year.

2022: Back to Fort Worth, and the First Storm

In 2022 the festival returned to Panther Island for April 23–24 and dropped camping. Saturday went ahead with Excision, Dom Dolla, John Summit and Alison Wonderland. On Sunday afternoon the organizers canceled the second day over forecast hail, unsafe winds and lightning, according to EDMTunes. That meant Tiësto, Diplo, Zeds Dead, CamelPhat and Gorgon City never played the festival. Some of them played replacement club shows instead: Tiësto and Gorgon City at Cowboys Red River in Dallas, billed as Clubbi Ubbi, and Zeds Dead with CloZee at The Shack, the indoor building on the Panther Island grounds, billed as Clubbi Dubbi. EDMTunes reported that both sold out soon after they were announced.

2023 to 2025: The Steady Years

The next three editions ran without a weather cancellation. 2023 (April 22–23) had Kaskade, Rezz, Timmy Trumpet, Zomboy, San Holo, Mau P, Deorro, Adventure Club again and Jessica Audiffred.

2024 moved to Memorial Day weekend, May 25–26, the only edition so far not held in April. RL Grime, Alison Wonderland, Levity and Dabin played Saturday, and Afrojack, Galantis, Said the Sky and SVDDEN DEATH played Sunday. Further down that bill were several acts who are back in 2027: Jessica Audiffred, TVBOO, ROMMII, Wooli, Crankdat and Kaleena Zanders.

2025 went back to April (26–27) with Subtronics, Seven Lions and What So Not on Saturday, FISHER, Borgore and Boogie T b2b Dirt Monkey on Sunday, and Adventure Club for a third time. Further down were Dimension and Zen Selekta, who also return in 2027.

2026: Into the Abyss, and the Second Storm

The seventh edition, April 24–25, 2026, was the first to run Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday. Its theme was "Into the Abyss," with underwater-styled stages: Ubbi's Stage, Dubbi's Stage and the Zoom Room among them. Friday went ahead, with Alesso on the sunset slot, San Holo, Of The Trees, and Kx5, the deadmau5 and Kaskade project.

Saturday didn't. According to WeRaveYou's recap, the weather turned about 30 minutes into the sunset sets, while Loud Luxury was on Ubbi's Stage, and lightning and heavy rain forced a delay before organizers called off the rest of the night. Bunt., Cloonee, Space Laces, Kai Wachi, TRYM, Ganja White Night and Zedd never went on. NBC DFW talked to fans who had received an alert that severe weather had temporarily shut the festival down, then got caught in rising floodwater near an after-party, and reported that organizers had promised details on refunds. Of the six editions held at Panther Island, two have now lost their second day to storms.

Where 2027 Fits

The 2027 theme is Canditopia: Ubbi and Dubbi follow a transmission to a candy planet. The Friday–Saturday format stays. A lot of the lineup has been here before. Illenium is back for a third time after 2019 and 2021, and Galantis for a third time after 2019 and 2024. NGHTMRE returns for the first time since the first edition. Adventure Club makes a fourth appearance, after 2021, 2023 and 2025, and is one of the four acts billed for a sunset set. TVBOO was on the 2021 and 2024 bills, and Jessica Audiffred on the 2023 and 2024 bills.

The b2b pairings come from the festival's own history too. WANKDAT is Crankdat b2b Wooli, and both played the 2024 edition; Wooli also played 2021. JUOS b2b ROMMII brings back a 2024 name as half of a house pairing. Deorro returns from 2023, Dimension and Zen Selekta from 2025. The top of the bill does add names new to the festival: Steve Aoki and MK aren't on any published Ubbi Dubbi bill from 2019 through 2025.

The Bottom Line

Ubbi Dubbi's history comes down to three things. It sold out its first year, it was early back after the pandemic, and it has repeatedly been hit by North Texas spring storms. Rebooking past acts is its habit, and the 2027 bill leans on it heavily. Nothing about the weather has changed, so the weather section of the first-timer's guide is the part of this site to read first.

Browse the full 2027 lineup, read who to see and the undercard picks, or check the FAQ. The day split and set times aren't out yet; we'll add them to the set times page as soon as the festival posts them.