EDM producer Slushii played a show last semester at the Basement Nightspot as part of the Monster Energy Up & Up Festival — a nationwide competition in which a select number of schools compete to sell the most pre-sale tickets to win a concert at their school.

The competition returns this year with a festival featuring progressive house DJ Elephante at stake. DJ Elephante is a producer based in Los Angeles and known for his remixes of songs by Lorde, The Chainsmokers, and Calvin Harris.

The 48-hour pre-sale starts Tuesday, September 10 at 4 p.m. As a reminder, for Penn State to win, students will need to purchase tickets for $22, but they won’t be charged until their school wins. The schools with the most sign-ups win.

While last semester’s competition rewarded the top-six schools with a show, only the top four schools in this semester’s installment will win an Elephante concert. No dates are set, but the concerts will be held in late October.

The Penn State Up & Up team, founded by seniors Paul Laki, Michael Sellers, Ben Rosenblatt, Mohul Chaudhari, and recent graduates Katarina VanLedtje and Daniel Murphy, is growing by the day and working hard to bring the festival back to Penn State.

“What started as a handful of friends who love live music and wanted to bring a fun concert experience to Penn State has evolved into a big family,” Laki said.

Laki and Sellers said that they only had a few people organizing last semester’s show, but have since added more than 55 ambassadors to their team. Now, some of the team’s new members hail from branch campuses like Harrisburg and Altoona.

The Up & Up team has been spreading awareness through its social media accounts and by sponsoring events at fraternities. The team also works with venues around State College to throw parties for other live music events on campus.

“We are so unbelievably grateful for all the people who have joined since the last festival and for their energy and drive to bring the festival back to Penn State,” Sellers said. “We’re excited to bring something fun back to campus that is for the students, by the students.”

For more information on the Up & Up Festival, be sure to check out its website and Up & Up Penn State’s pre-sale page.

About the Author

Matthew Ogden

Matthew Ogden is a senior double majoring in Marketing and Journalism. He resides in South Jersey and is the cohost of Onward State's podcast, Podward State, and the blog's preeminent expert on Kanye West. Email him your favorite Spotify playlists to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @MattOgden98.