Monster Energy Up & Up Festival, the longest-running college music tour, has announced Ship Wrek, one of the most buzz-worthy producers and DJs in electronic music, as their official headliner for its Spring 2026 tour.
Now entering its tenth year, the festival’s thousands of presale tickets routinely sell out within 48 hours, despite no announced date, location, or even a guarantee that the event will happen. More than 100 student ambassador teams from across the U.S. will rally their schools through guerrilla marketing, grassroots campus activations, hundreds of tablings featuring Monster Energy product and swag, dozens of rally events at the most popular bars, Greek Chapter presentations, and targeted influencer campaigns to secure a stop on the tour — and the chance to co-produce the ultimate college music experience and earn internship credits.
“Whenever we play college shows, the energy is always next level,” says Ship Wrek. “It’s a full-circle moment to see how much the genre has grown since we were DJing in school. We are stoked to be headlining the Monster Energy Up & Up Festival and see which schools win it all.”
Monster Energy Up & Up empowers each campus team — operating from its own Instagram handle — to compete in a 48-hour presale campaign. The top five schools with the most ticket sales win a stop on the tour. Winning colleges then partner with Up & Up producers to host the festival at a local venue, featuring their own DJ openers, content team, and on-site activations, culminating in the most hyped event of the semester.
Credit cards are charged only to the winning campus’s teams, so there’s no risk. Students can also purchase via PayPal and Venmo. This forward-thinking ticketing model has resulted in multiple sold-out hard-ticket tours in premium college venues before the dates & locations are even announced.
“As a senior business student at Cal Poly, being part of Up & Up has been one of — if not the most — pivotal and rewarding experiences of my four years in college,” says Kyle Flora. “The entertainment sphere can feel limited around my small college town, but Up & Up allowed me to tap into that community while gaining real hands-on experience in live music marketing. From applying to be a student ambassador the summer after my sophomore year to stepping into larger roles, including President and National Campaign Designer, the program has absolutely helped me find what my lane is in the music industry post-grad. And beyond the professional growth, being able to produce an EDM festival for your friends is so unusual, unreal, and something I will never take for granted.”
Here’s how the Monster Energy Up & Up model delivers:
- Headliners only perform where the most presale tickets are sold.
- Students gain real-world experience in the music industry, marketing, and events.
- Fans enjoy a fun dance music event uniting the campus, at a fair price.
Electronic dance music has grown rapidly over the past ten years, and the Monster Energy Up & Up Festival has been at the forefront of bringing elite artists such as Dom Dolla and Disco Lines to college towns across the US. This model enables students to curate major events featuring top-tier artists while developing real-world skills in sales, promotion, and event production.
Recent winners include Cal Poly, Miami-Ohio, San Diego State, University of Arizona, CSU Fullerton, San Jose State and the University of Oregon, who earned the Fall 2025 headliner, ODD MOB. Other previous winners include University of Alabama, ASU (2x), Bryant, Boulder (4x), University of Dayton (3x), University of Georgia, Lehigh, JMU, Indiana University, LSU, Penn State (3x), Oklahoma State, Oregon State University, UC Davis (2x), University of Virginia (2x), UT Austin, Washington State University (5x), UNCW (3x), Virginia Tech (2x), and Wake Forest.
Next Spring, the Up & Up will introduce the Newcomers Award to colleges that haven’t won since Covid, more rally party events, along with its NATIONAL PEP RALLY. This virtual Zoom event attracts attendees from over 200 universities and features surprise artist performances, guest speakers from the music industry, educational workshops, and giveaways, all held days before the presale competition.
The Fall 2025 national competition kicks off on February 18th at 4 p.m. EST, with the winning festivals taking place throughout April and May.
College students seeking music industry experience or internship credit can apply at www.upandupfestival.com
FOLLOW MONSTER ENERGY:
www.monsterenergy.com
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
FOLLOW MONSTER ENERGY UP & UP:
https://upandupfestival.com/
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | TikTok
FOLLOW MONSTER ENERGY MUSIC:
www.monsterenergy.com/music
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter