Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is the first promoter to lead live entertainment into the post-pandemic era with not one, but two, large-scale music festivals welcoming almost 124,000 happy people and creating thousands of jobs for long out-of-work live entertainment professionals.
Through a combination of innovative COVID protocols inspired by professional sports leagues, vaccine uptake and collaboration with local authorities in the first states to welcome mass gatherings, DDP created safe environments that welcomed 60,000 people over two days to Ubbi Dubbi in Ennis, TX on April 24 and 25 and 64,000 to Sunset Music Festival in Tampa, Florida on May 29 and 30.
With no other festivals to use as guidance, DDP developed novel COVID-19 protocols for each festival including COVID-sniffing dogs, COVID-specific communications, on-site testing, an event specific smartphone health screening mobile applications and collaborations with local authorities.
Doing things first is familiar territory for DDP, Disco Donnie himself is one of the few promoters still in business who risked it all in the early days of illegal warehouse parties and the only one to stand up for promoters and venue owner’s constitutional rights to free speech and due process when the government had used the “crack house” law to try to prosecute organizers of raves. Alongside the American Civil Liberties Union, he fought against federal encroachment on civil liberties on constitutional grounds and they won against claims under the Reducing Americans Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act. Once again, Donnie recognized that someone had to take the risk and be the first to produce music festivals on the back end of COVID; it helped that his company has been the leading electronic music promoter in Florida and Texas for many years.
James “Disco” Donnie Estopinal, said:
I’ll always remember the joy fans expressed at the first two festivals after COVID.” Disco Donnie Presents is thankful for everyone who attended, and for all of their staff, artists and industry who committed to going back to work. The mental health benefits of festivals were sorely needed — and when COVID risks started falling, we moved forward. I’ve always enjoyed making people happy (especially paired with really loud dance music) and returning to creating those feelings was indescribable.
Electronic music’s growth continues across the United States and fans are enjoying travel to new destinations. DDP’s first two post-COVID festivals set attendance records–attendance for each festival grew thirty percent (30%) over prior attendance.