More than a decade after launching Dallas’ long-running New Year’s Eve EDM event, Lights All Night co-founder Scott Osburn is selling the event to Disco Donnie Presents, the U.S. indie music promotion company led by James “Disco Donnie” Estopinal.
The purchase is the first acquisition for Estopinal since exiting LiveStyle and the third festival to be managed by Estopinal in Texas, who also owns Ubbi Dubbi and Freaky Deaky and is now one of the biggest indie promoters in the Lone Star State.
As part of the acquisition, Estopinal’s team has taken over booking for the festival and revealed that this year’s event, scheduled for Dec. 29 and 30 at Dallas Market Hall, includes Excision, John Summit, Porter Robinson (DJ Set), Svdden Death, Tchami, Zeds Dead and more.
DDP has produced over 17,000 shows and sold over 17 million tickets in over 100 different cities since its inception in 1994 including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin in addition to 11 other smaller cities in Texas. In the last 10 years, the company has generated over $1 billion dollars in total economic impact and over $1.6 million in charitable donations to local nonprofits for through out Texas. That included Ubbi Dubbi in April 2021, the “first festival back” after over a year of COVID-canceled events. After researchers confirmed the event led to no escalation in COVID cases, Estopinal’s operations became a template for promoters nationwide.
Scott Osburn
Lights All Night was first launched on New Year’s Eve 2010 by founders Osburn and Hank Keller with headliner Ghostland Observatory entertaining 6,000 fans. LAN has since grown to become Texas’ longest running electronic music festival. In 2018, Osburn, a University of Montana graduate, acquired a majority interest in LAN and started operating the 35,000-capacity festival under his company Always On.
“Selling Lights All Night to Disco Donnie Presents is a full circle moment. Throughout the years, Donnie, his president Michele Servais and the DDP team have been great mentors and friendly competitors. DDP wrote the playbook for Texas’ electronic music scene, and we have been able to create a first-class festival with their support. I’m very excited to see how the festival evolves and feel fortunate to hand over the reins to such respected and capable producers,” Osburn tells Billboard.
Estopinal described acquiring Lights All Night as a watershed moment for Disco Donnie Presents. “After re-establishing our own independence, I am thrilled to start a new phase of growth with our first acquisition,” he says. “Over 25 years ago, I felt such a strong connection with the audience at our earliest shows in Texas and since then, the demand for dance music has exploded. Scott Osburn and his team have built an extraordinary festival and it’s an honor for us to be trusted to continue and expand on their creativity.”
