Key Takeaways
- Festival Overview: The Totally Tubular Festival 2026 features artists like Thomas Dolby and a Flock of Seagulls, celebrating ’80s music.
- Tour Dates: The festival kicks off on July 17 in Phoenix and wraps up on August 16 in Aurora, Illinois.
- Lineup Highlights: Notable acts include the Motels, Producers, and Animotion, with the Producers’ first U.S. tour in over 25 years.
- Ticket Sales: Tickets will be available to the public starting Friday.
Thomas Dolby and a Flock of Seagulls will lead the 2026 installment of the Totally Tubular Festival, the ’80s-centric road show that began in 2024.
The festival tour launches on July 17 in Phoenix and concludes on Aug. 16 in Aurora, Illinois. The lineup also includes the Motels, the Producers, Animotion, the Escape Club, and Tommy Tutone.
Dolby will perform with the Lost Toy People for the first time since 1988, when they supported Depeche Mode at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. This year’s festival will also mark the first U.S. tour in over 25 years from the original lineup of the Producers, who reached No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981 with “What She Does to Me (The Diana Song).”
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Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday. You can see the full list of tour dates below.
Totally Tubular Festival 2026 Lineup
Totally Tubular Festival 2026 poster
Totally Tubular Festival Joins Other ’80s Nostalgia Tours in 2026
“The current ’80s music revival is more than just a walk down memory lane for those of us that were actually there,” Dolby said in a statement, “because those born after the ’80s are discovering the treasure trove of fresh musical ideas that exploded onto the scene in the heyday of MTV and KROQ — and the huge influence we had on everything that came after.”
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The Totally Tubular Festival 2026 reveal comes just two weeks after the announcement of Howard Jones’ Things Can Only Get Better summer tour, featuring fellow new wave hitmakers Wang Chung, the English Beat, and Modern English. This summer will also see the return of the Human League as they embark on their first coast-to-coast U.S. tour since 2011, with support from Soft Cell and Alison Moyet.
Listen to Thomas Dolby on the ‘UCR Podcast’
Totally Tubular Festival 2026 Dates
July 17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
July 19 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
July 22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Castro
July 23 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
July 24 – Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
July 25 – Las Vegas, NV @ Sahara Las Vegas
July 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre ^
Aug. 1 – New Town, ND @ 4 Bears Casino *
Aug. 7 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
Aug. 8 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
Aug. 9 – New York, NY @ Pier 17
Aug. 12 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Ferg’s Pavilion
Aug. 14 – Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amphitheatre ^
Aug. 15 – Huber Heights, OH @ Rose Music Center at The Heights
Aug. 16 – Aurora, IL @ RiverEdge Park
* Bow Wow Wow will replace the Motels in New Town, ND at 4 Bears Casino on Aug. 1. The New Town, ND show goes on sale 6/22.
^ On sale now.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
