Shaq's Fun House is an annual music festival organized by former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal and Medium Rare. It features performances from hip-hop and EDM artists, carnival-style activities, and circus acts. It has been held since 2018, and is held in the same city as the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

on the Friday before the game. Shaq's Fun House is an all inclusive event that features free food and drinks. Two related virtual events were also held called Shaq's Fun House vs. Gronk Beach in 2020 and Shaq Bowl in 2021.

History

2018 - Shaq's Fun House (Miami)

The first Shaq's Fun House was held during

Miami Music Week Miami Music Week (MMW) is a weeklong marathon of electronic dance music that takes place in Miami, Florida. During the last week of March, the event is attended by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. In 2015, over 1,000 artis ...

in March 2018. Its lineup included artists such as

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

, A-Trak, Carnage, and O’Neal himself. One of the most viral moments from the inaugural Shaq's Fun House was when 4x

champion Rob Gronkowski jumped on Shaquille's shoulders next to Von Miller domino affecting into an epic dance battle.

2019 - Shaq's Fun House (Atlanta)

The second Shaq's Fun House was held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

The Battery Atlanta The Battery Atlanta is a mixed-use development located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. It is adjacent to ...

in 2019. It featured artists such as Lil’ Jon, Tiësto, and

Migos Migos () is an American hip hop trio from Lawrenceville, Georgia, founded in 2008. The group was originally composed of Southern rappers Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia; Offset and Takeoff were born and raised in Law ...

. It also featured a special collaborative performance from SHAQ and

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

. The event also featured catering from Waffle House and Krispy Kreme. Celebrity attendance in Atlanta included

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

, Jamie Foxx, Akon,

Patrick Mahomes Patrick Lavon Mahomes II (born September 17, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The son of former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Pat Mahomes, he initially played co ...

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

, Adrian Peterson,

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

, and many more.

2019 - Shaq's Fun House (Miami)

Shaq's Fun House returned to Miami on March 29, 2019, during

. The lineup was unannounced and included

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...

, Diplo, Kaskade,

Oliver Heldens Olivier J. L. Heldens (born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, includ ...

, NGHTMRE, Nitti Gritti, Lil Jon, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Laidback Luke, Carnage,

Slushii Julian Michael Scanlan (born May 1, 1997), known professionally as Slushii, is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Los Angeles. He is best known for working with various artists managed by Moe Shalizi, such a ...

Matt Medved Matthew Bryan Medved is an American entrepreneur, journalist, DJ and record producer. He is the co-founder and CEO of nft now, a web3 media company focused on non-fungible token (NFT) coverage and curation. Medved previously served as senior vi ...

, and Diesel (O'neal himself).

2020 - Shaq's Fun House (Miami)

The festival returned to Miami for its 3rd time in January 2020 and was held at the Mana Wynwood Convention Center. The event's performers included Diddy,

, DaBaby,

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

, Tiesto, Carnage and DJ set from DJ Diesel. For the 2020 event, O’neal partnered with WYNN Las Vegas to operate all VIP and bottle service operations.

2020 - Shaq’s Fun House vs. Gronk Beach (Virtual, Orlando)

In June 2020, Medium Rare also held a livestreamed event combining their Shaq's Fun House and Gronk Beach events called "Shaq’s Fun House vs. Gronk Beach" to raise money for charity. The event was hosted by O’Neal and professional football player Rob Gronkowski and it raised funds for the

Boys and Girls Club Boys & Girls Club may refer to: * Boys & Girls Clubs of America * Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada * Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, Bronx, United States * Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, in Essex and East London, England * The Boys' and Girls' Clubs A ...

and the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

. The event won a

Webby Awards The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

in the category of Sports, General Virtual & Remote.

2021 - The Shaq Bowl (Virtual, Tampa)

Shaq's Fun House was not held in 2021, due to complications from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Instead a

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

event called ''Shaq Bowl'' was held, featuring two celebrity teams competing in a variety of challenges with the winner earning the first-ever SHAQ Bowl Trophy.

2022 - Shaq's Fun House (Los Angeles)

The 2022 iteration of Shaq's Fun House was held at the Shrine Auditorium in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It featured performances from artists such as

Lil’ Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

, Zedd, and

, along with a DJ set from O’Neal.{{Cite web , last=Tingley, first=Anna , date=2022-02-04 , title=Shaq’s Annual Super Bowl Party Opens to the Public: Here’s How to Buy Tickets , url=https://variety.com/shop/shaq-super-bowl-party-buy-tickets-1235172375/ , access-date=2022-03-16 , website=Variety , language=en-US

References

Festivals in Los Angeles Music festivals in California