I have a confession to make: Besides my marriage to Berlin, I have an extra-marital affair with Medellin, Colombia. You know, it’s nice to stick your head outside of Berlin every once in a while to see what other cities are up to. And in that spirit, I want to share a party photo set with you I took in Medellin last weekend at the Candela Ball, so you also get to see what the queer party scenes in other major cities in the world look like.
I loved photographing at this drag ball. It was much like in the old days in Berlin when I took party photos regularly. One of the first parties I had to think of was the Blitz party that I captured many times. The costumes, the make-up, and the effort that was put in both by organizers and guests – it’s really something rare to find. This is what I found at the Candela Ball.
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by Frank | Oct 18, 2022 | Party, Travel
Crack open a bottle of champagne while cleaning and then stick with the drink – groom your mind rather than soulless furniture. Or get stuck in a traffic jam, but sing at the top of your lungs throughout; there are people who manage to turn dull, everyday situations into a party.
The gourmets of life are rarely those who impose themselves on others, rather, the loud-mouthed emptiness that does seem to be the constant shadow of those who manage to poison the most beautiful events with their sad and bitter opinions.
It is these people who rant over how ridiculous it is to spend savings on a single event, or what a waste it is to down that expensive wine on a regular Wednesday for no reason.
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by Marie | Sep 26, 2022 | Party, Stories
The last weekend was full of queer joy for us with several pride parades and queer parties going on. It felt a bit like Christmas for the LGBTQIA+ community and there was something going on for every sub-group. This year, we not only visited the main pride on Saturday but also the Dyke* March on Friday and the Internationalist Pride that happened on Saturday evening at Hermannplatz. Both of these were pretty much in contrast to the main Pride parade, but nonetheless what stood out was the smiling faces and happiness of all the queer people who joined. And that makes us very happy. Because queer joy matters so much – it’s the rebellion, the antidote, the protest against discrimination, hate, prejudice, prosecution, and inequality.
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by Frank | Jul 27, 2022 | Events, Party, Photos
After a few years of preparation, and another year of delay due to covid, the first edition of the Rave the Planet parade finally took place last Saturday bringing back the magic of the iconic Love Parade to the streets of Berlin. Around 200.000 ravers from young to old came together along the track of the parade that lead from Ku’damm over Nollendorfplatz, Potsdamer Straße, Brandenburger Gate all the way over to the Siegessäule in Tiergarten. A caravan of 18 trucks filled with DJs, performers, and ravers made its way through town filling the air with the finest techno the city has to offer.
It was pretty incredible to witness this first edition, especially since I never went to the original Love Parade that took place in Berlin from 1989 to 2006. The energy in the city was incredible, the people were so ecstatic and it felt like seeing Berlin back to its old strength that we almost thought lost due to the last years.
For the first time, we also had the privilege to experience a parade from the perspective of a truck as our friends from Das Techno Team invited us onto their float. It was a really special pleasure to celebrate this event with their crew and performers. It also gave me the opportunity to capture the event in ways I never could before during big street parades. Check out our Instagram and Tiktok for our video recap. And below you’ll find out photo impressions.
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by Frank | Jul 11, 2022 | Events, Party, Photos
Festival Season is back on track after a long covid break. This year we would love to introduce you to some festivals in Europe that might not have been on your bucket list yet. The Mallorca Live-Festival promises beach fun and electronic music highlights far away from the ordinary.
While other years we like to feature festivals around or in Berlin, this year with new travel opportunities we wanted to look a bit further out of our usual geographic radius. That is why we got super excited about the upcoming invitation for the Mallorca Live Festival.
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by Claudio | Jun 20, 2022 | Events, Music, Party, Travel
As some of you already know we are right in the middle of our new group exhibition Fantastic Playground Berlin that you can still visit until Saturday at the Marcell von Berlin Flagship Store on Friedrichstraße 172. We have been planning this show for a long time now and we still can’t believe that it finally materialized, and it looks so much more amazing than we ever could have wished for.
This exhibition is really special to us because for the first time we had a theme that allowed us to create something like a retrospective of our work for iHeartBerlin for the past 15 years. Berlin is a playground of ideas – this has always been an important theme for us as we featured all these wonderful and inspiring projects from different creative scenes that make up Berlin. It’s so diverse and fun and colorful. To us, it’s the essence of Berlin and why this city is so special. It feels like everyone can find their space on this wild playground.
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by Frank | Jun 9, 2022 | Art, Events, Party, Photos
Could you imagine going sober-raving with a bunch of alien-like drag queens in Oberschöneweide? Neither did I until I went to the Pyramid Party.
I have had my fair share of strange things in Berlin in the last couple of years. Approximately 16 years ago I came to this city as a young and curious psychology student and did not imagine what a rollercoaster ride was expecting me and my body. Yet last February one particular event became one of the top special experiences: the Pyramid Party. Before this particular event repeats itself this weekend I would like to share with you my experience of the last time I went there.
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by Claudio | May 5, 2022 | Art, Party
Even though it seems there is very little good news these days, we have something great to announce that will really bring some joy to some of you. Kreuzberg just got a brand new nightclub: Marktlokal Klub! The district that is so famous for its nightlife and bar scene but oddly has so few actual clubs is finally getting a new one. Located at Markthalle 9 in the basement of the Marktlokal restaurant the new nightlife spot follows suit with Berlin’s tradition of having clubs in basements.
I instantly had to think back to places such as ZMF in Mitte (the original location from the makers of the iconic Griesmühle) or the famous Fuchs & Elster at Weserstraße (the original club from the Klunkerkranich team). In Kreuzberg, for instance, there were the two cute Kellerclubs Kleine Reise at Spreewaldplatz and St. Georg next to Ritter Butzke, both of which served as earlier locations for the Pornceptual party. In addition to that, there were countless places all over the city, that didn’t even have proper names, or at least I don’t remember them, as they were often lowkey hidden underneath restaurants or bars. I really like these smaller, intimate clubs, because they often have the best crowd and are never shy to surprise you with the most fun vibes.
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by Frank | Mar 10, 2022 | Clubs, Kreuzberg, Party
photo: Das Techno Team.
Are you looking to spice up your workout routine with some techno-inspired exercises? Or maybe you need to refresh your dance moves before a triumphant return to the club? In either case, the videos of the Berlin-based Das Techno Team are sure to make you chuckle!
Das Techno Team, the self-described “Techno Fitness made in Berlin”, posts videos combining ravers dancing to awesome electronic beats with a humorous, yet surprisingly accurate description of their moves. With this simple yet ingenious concept, the online sensation is already taking Tiktok and Instagram by storm. Read on…
by Michalina | Nov 11, 2021 | Party
You know we love a good party, and you can imagine being locked up for the last 1,5 years has been a challenge. It has been itching under our fingernails now for a while, so when our former iHeartBerlin party writer Suz asked us if we wanted to do a Halloween party with her at Backyard it was pretty much a given we would jump at the opportunity.
Backyard has a place in our hearts because we celebrated so many parties here, most famously the iconic Last Days parties. Those of you who have been around here for a while might even remember the various party photo sets we published in those days. It was certainly something that shaped iHeartBerlin and its place in the Berlin blog and magazine world.
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by Frank | Nov 4, 2021 | Party, Photos