Red Bull Flugtag Returns to DFW for the First Time Since 2013

IRVING, Texas—After a 12-year hiatus from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Red Bull Flugtag is making its return on Saturday, September 13, at Levy Event Plaza in Irving.

The free, all-ages event will feature more than 30 teams of "fearless flyers" who have designed and built their own human-powered flying machines. The teams will launch their homemade aircrafts off a 22-foot-high ramp and into Lake Carolyn. Teams will be judged on flight distance, creativity, and showmanship.

The event is expected to attract over 40,000 spectators from across North Texas. Gates open at noon, and the main event will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

"We’re excited to welcome back Red Bull Flugtag to Irving and showcase the creativity and adventurous spirit of our community," said Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer.

The Fan Zone will offer interactive challenges, exclusive Red Bull merchandise, and other activities, including a static display of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 car. The festivities will be kicked off with a special drop-in by the Red Bull Air Force, who will be skydiving around Lake Carolyn.

COMPETITOR LINEUP

Returning Red Bull Competitors

• FlamBouyancy 2: FLYboyant (Tulsa, OK + New Orleans, LA): This flamboyant flamingo, shimmering with iridescent feathers, is built to crash with style but secretly dares to fly. The team’s last craft placed 3rd at Red Bull Rapids in 2023.
• Barbie’s Revenge (Dallas, TX): This returning competitor team once raced a Barbie-themed Jeep in the 2019 Red Bull Soapbox Race, and crashed spectacularly. Now they’re taking to the skies in a hot-pink jumbo jet, determined to give their doll-inspired dreams a safer flight path.

Corporate & Brand Teams

• 7-Eleven Team (Irving, TX): Details coming soon on this convenience-powered aircraft straight from 7-Eleven’s nearby HQ based in DFW.
• Doodles (Vancouver, CA): The creative minds and NFT creators behind the Doodles animation brand debut Hap’s First Flight, bringing their playful cynicism and pop-culture collaborations (formerly with Pharrell, McDonald’s, and Adidas) to the sky. Their iridescent craft blurs the line between art project and airborne spectacle.
• Nothing Major (Dallas, TX / Manhattan Beach, CA / Lincoln, NE): Former pro tennis players turned podcasters take their shot at flight with The Unforced Errors — proof that even without Majors, they can still make a major splash.
• The Blunder Dragons (San Diego, CA): Led by YouTuber ChrisDaCow (1.4M subscribers), this Minecraft-inspired Ender Dragon craft channels ultralight hang gliders of the ’80s.
• The Red Bull Tetriminoes (Dallas, TX): Powered by Kaitlyn Hoefling, this team brings the world of Red Bull Tetris to life with a pixel-perfect flying machine.
• Topgolf (Dallas, TX): True to brand, “Topgolf Air” aims to bring the driving range to the runway. Expect signature style, precision, and plenty of swing from this popular organization, which is proud to call North Texas its global HQ.

Out-Of-Town Competitors

• Durden’s Burden (West Lafayette, IN): Purdue undergrads bring Fight Club to the ramp, designing a split craft to represent the narrator’s inner conflict with Tyler Durden. It’s a “Flight Identity Crisis” in foam and duct tape.
• Flightless Eagles (Daytona Beach, FL): Aerospace engineering seniors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University mash Mario Kart with aviation in “Mushroom Airlines.” Watch out for blue shells on takeoff.

Local Amateurs & Community Teams

• 100 Men vs Gorilla (Fort Worth, TX - Bell Helicopter Employees): A squad of aerospace and mechanical engineers from Bell Helicopter bring the viral “100 Men vs Gorilla” meme to life. Their human-powered banana rocket launches a gliding gorilla toward the water in the ultimate battle of beast vs. man-made machine.
• ¡Margarita Voladora! (Las Colinas, TX): Three amigos blend mariachi, margaritas, and mayhem into a Tex-Mex flying machine. Dreamed up during a lively brainstorming session with some margs, their design promises a colorful, high-energy spectacle from start to splash.
• Cave People (Garland, TX): This prehistoric crew reimagines the first time humans dreamt of flying alongside birds. Expect stone-age costumes, slapstick comedy, and a craft that looks like it time-traveled from the dawn of man.
• Charcoal Commanders (Greenville, TX): Texas BBQ meets aviation in this brisket-smoked, mesquite-fueled flying pit. Part engineering experts and part grill masters, they decided to compete on the day of the deadline and whose average age, mathematically, is pi3 (or 31 years old).
• Corpus Christi Crabs (Corpus Christi, TX): Organizers of the largest beach rugby tournament in the U.S., this squad is swapping scrums for sky-high stunts. Their rugby-themed glider even includes a goalpost for an in-flight conversion kick.
• Cyber Bevo (Austin, TX): A team of UT Austin PhD students reimagines the school’s beloved longhorn mascot as a futuristic, part-machine hero. Cyber Bevo promises horns, horsepower, and high-tech hijinks.
• Deputy Dads (Katy, TX): Five boot-loving Texans channel cowboy grit into the “Boot Scoot One,” a flying ode to Lone Star pride. Each member has their own boot story, from international travels to ultra-marathon recoveries.
• Firehawk (Dallas, TX): Rocket launch veterans from West Texas trade thrusters for wings in “The Bird,” a craft inspired by the Surfin’ Bird anthem. Expect equal parts engineering and pure chaos.
• Glorp (Austin, TX): It’s a bird, it’s a plane... it’s an alien cat named Glorp, ready to beam down into Lake Carolyn.
• Gravity Gurus (Coppell, TX): A squad of pilots (commercial, private, and adventure seekers) take flight with “Chicken Fingers and Bananas,” inspired by rubber chickens once used in flight training. Expect banana hammocks (PG-rated) and poultry puns galore.
• La Vecindad (El Paso, TX): Inspired by the beloved Latin American TV show El Chavo del Ocho, this craft is shaped like the wooden barrel where El Chavo lived. It’s a nostalgic nod to childhood imagination and neighborhood mischief.
• Remove Before Flight (Pantego, TX): Experimental flight fans are modeling their craft after the long-ranging albatross bird.
• Sugar Land Sugarnauts (Sugar Land, TX - City of Sugarland employees): A crew of city employees from every department (from fire to engineering and beyond) transforms office furniture into a spacecraft. Their “Center of Gravity” craft blends Texas grit with intergalactic flair.
• Team De Lo (Dallas, TX): Five friends take Back to the Future’s hoverboard to new heights in “The Hoova Board.” Fueled by duct tape, snacks, and lots of Red Bull, their design thrives on what some might consider questionable engineering confidence.
• TACO a.k.a. Texas Aeronautics & Crash Organization (Dallas, TX): Five friends from engineering-adjacent fields send a flying taco skyward. The pilot becomes the filling in a preflight skit, complete with hot sauce packet costumes.
• The Beyhive (Keller, TX + Chicago, IL): Inspired by Beyoncé’s latest album and tour, this cowboy cart blends pop culture and aviation. With veterans of the Air Force and Marines on board, they aim to make Queen Bey proud in her homestate of Texas.
• The Groomsmen (Dallas, TX): Five friends (including three brothers) race against time to compete at Flugtag the day before one member’s wedding happening the very next day. Their “Just Married” getaway car is ready for takeoff into the sunset.
• The Sun Catchers (Dallas, TX): An Icarus-inspired design dreamed up by a toy inventor and backed by a duct-tape-loving physics expert. With a fearless daredevil pilot, this crew flirts with flying too close to the sun.
• The Wind Riders (Irving, TX): New friends brought together by this DFW competition, this all-Texas amateur crew plans to take the crown. They’re aiming for a world-record flight, with bigger bragging rights for the Lone Star State.
• The Wrecking Crew (Waco, TX): A tight-knit team of car guys builds “The Wrecking Roadster,” inspired by the Mickey Mouse Roadster Racer. With backgrounds ranging from battle bots to go-kart champs, they’re ready to smash records, and maybe even the ramp.
• Visionaries (Dallas, TX): Contractors-turned-pilots model “Visionaerial” after a science demo tube from the nearby Perot Museum. Their V-shaped craft is a bet that Texas builders can finish the wildest jobs, even in midair.