Nic Fanciulli: House Rules 2026 in Dubai

Nic Fanciulli: House Rules 2026 in Dubai puts the Grammy-nominated British DJ and Saved Records founder in charge of The Penthouse at FIVE Palm Jumeirah on Saturday 5 December. House Rules is the venue’s weekly Saturday series, built around one idea: every week an international guest takes the lead and sets the rules on the dancefloor. This week, in the listing’s words, House Rules belongs to Nic Fanciulli, with a night of house and techno against Dubai’s skyline.

Who is Nic Fanciulli?

Nic Fanciulli was born in Maidstone, Kent, in 1979, and has been one of the steadiest names in British house and techno for two decades. His early break came when Pete Tong played Drifting, a record he made as part of Mojolators, on BBC Radio 1, which led to the track being licensed to Multiply Records. By the mid-2000s he was mixing compilations for some of the scene’s biggest brands, with Renaissance Presents Nic Fanciulli in 2005 and a second volume in 2006, followed by GUDJ Volume 01 for Global Underground in 2009, Balance 021 in 2012 and Defected in the House in 2014, the long-running compilation series from London’s Defected Records.

In 2006 he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical, for his Buick Project remix of Tracey Thorn’s Damage. Over the years his remix work has stretched from Underworld and Kylie Minogue to Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa’s One Kiss in 2018, and his own releases include Resistance with Audion in 2017 and Saying, featuring Damon Albarn, in 2018. The listing also points to I Want You with Butch and his remix of For The Same Man as tracks that show his groove.

A label and festival founder

Fanciulli co-founded Saved Records in 2005 with Andy Chatterley and now runs it with his brother Mark. The label has been releasing house and techno for more than twenty years. In 2014 he launched The Social, a festival in Mote Park in his home town of Maidstone, so he is as used to programming a night as he is to playing one, which suits a series that hands the guest control of the room.

What House Rules is about

The concept is simple and is what keeps the series varied. Every DJ leads a dancefloor differently, with their own sound, energy and pacing, so each Saturday the guest brings their own rules to the same room. With Fanciulli, that means a set that sits comfortably across house and techno, the two genres he has worked in throughout his career. No support acts are listed, so the focus is firmly on the headliner.

Timings

The ticket page does not print doors or set times, but its calendar entries run from 10pm to 4am, which is the window to plan around. General Admission is the only ticket category listed, and bar entry is subject to availability.

Tables, food and shisha

If you want to eat or have shisha during the night, the venue advises reserving a table in advance. The ticket page does not list an age policy or dress code, so check with the venue before you go if you are unsure.

The Penthouse at FIVE Palm Jumeirah

The Penthouse is the rooftop venue at FIVE Palm Jumeirah, the hotel at No 1 Palm Jumeirah on the trunk of the Palm. It is the home of the House Rules series every Saturday, and its rooftop position gives the night its main visual draw: Dubai’s skyline as the backdrop to the dancefloor.

The weekly guest format means Fanciulli joins a run of international names on the series this season. Earlier House Rules nights in the autumn featured Sam Shure for a Halloween edition and Italian techno DJ Ilario Alicante, so the Saturday slot has become a regular stop for touring house and techno artists passing through Dubai. If you have been to one of those nights, expect the same room and format with a different headliner setting the tone.

Getting there

By car, take King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street and then Palm Jumeirah Road to reach the hotel. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are the simplest way to get to FIVE Palm Jumeirah and back, especially with a 4am finish.

Who it suits

This night is for anyone who has followed Fanciulli from his Renaissance and Global Underground mixes, Saved Records fans, and house and techno lovers looking for a Saturday with a respected international guest rather than a resident. It also suits people who know him from the One Kiss remix and want to hear the club side of his work, and groups who want a rooftop setting with tables and food alongside the music.

For more ideas, browse our Dubai nightlife guide, things to do this weekend, December events and things to do in Dubai.