PANSY’s Halloween events are truly legendary. Of course a lot of events and parties slap the word Halloween into their title these days, but let’s be honest, most of them will not diverge much from their regular program and not a lot of guests will really dress up for the occasion. It’s also not really in the spirit of Halloween to move the event conveniently to the weekend. It is, after all, a holiday on the 31st of October – for a reason.
As a 27-year-old night owl in Berlin, who once devoted himself so dearly to the nightlife and party scene, sometimes I question myself how I ended up spending my Friday night taking an online quiz to find out which döner sauce I am. Now I’m sure most of you can already relate. Corona forced our boundaries of mundane activities to a whole new level. You won’t be surprised to find out you’re not the only one watching an old show on TV and find yourself wondering how the actors are so close to each other without wearing a mask. While we are adapting to the new normal, artists and performers are working hard to bring us the best on digital platforms to keep us connected to the world and we can’t thank them enough. You will be extra happy if you love immersive experiences, dance, theater, opera, digital art, and drag shows! Here is a list of online events you can book right now!
Ditch your desk and roll up your sleeves, because we gotta get ready to take this holiday madness by the horns! I don’t know about you, but I’m in such a festive mood, I can’t get enough of raising my glass to a kinky new year. Right on time, Berlin quenches our party thirst with a crazy 10-day party marathon, that will satisfy all your festive needs for sure. We pre-selected some cool events for you, one for every day around Christmas and New Year’s Eve. So… ten days – are you ready for it?
photo: Thomas_k
I’ve been in Berlin for a year now. It’s been a great adventure involving a good deal of self-exploration, and I’ve already covered some aspects of it on the blog. And, quite ironically, that’s the part I find most exciting – the fact that I’ve slowly started to carve out my path as a writer. And I can’t complain about the lack of inspiration. As a matter of fact, Berlin is home to quite a lot of amazing, independent women who have a clear vision of themselves and work hard every day to make it their reality. Following the tradition of previous years we want to recapture the past year by honoring the amazing women that have done great things in these past twelve months.
Once upon a time there was a stunningly beautiful bearded princess called Mary-Jane. Contrary to her magnificent looks she lived in a quite unglamorous place called Berlin. It was a small little town mostly inhabited by poor people and other kinds of basic bitches. But Mary-Jane loved it here anyway because it was a tranquil place without a lot of fuzz and she just loved the feeling to be the most beautiful girl in the village.
But she had one problem that gave her a lot of grief. Despite her impeccable looks and most charming wits she couldn’t for the love of god find a damn boyfriend. And it wasn’t for lack of options because Berlin was actually known to host the most attractive man-meat on the mainland. The problem was quite another: There were just too many! It was like grabbing into a bucket full of slippery fish. It’s simply impossible to hold on to one: Just a lubricated whip with the tail and they were gone.
photo: Manuel Moncayo
Berlin is greater than the sum of its parts. Why is that? Because some of the parts stand out. They are the people who actively shape the city into the place that it is – some like to call them the movers and shakers. Without these individuals the city would be pretty boring and grey, but thanks to their involvement, enthusiasm and creativity Berlin gets illuminated with colors, fun and positive vibes. With a new series of portraits we want to bring attention to some of these city shapers that might otherwise stand in the shadow of their own projects. We interviewed three people that are important to us and whose projects give life and meaning to iHeartBerlin.
Our inspiration for this series was the Shape Your City project by Heineken, a competition for city shapers in the making who aspire to open up their own bar. Currently the jury is evaluating all the submitted concepts and soon the winner will be revealed. Exciting! Find out more about this here.
Today we want to start our portrait series with PANSY host of many fantastic nightlife events in Berlin and co-founder of YO! SISSY, Berlin’s very own fabulous queer music festival that’s been happening since 2 years now. In our interview we spoke about the changes in Berlin, the responsibilities of party organizers and the future of Berlin’s nightlife.
Certain characters of the Berlin nightlife are too unique to not be featured in all their shapes and colors here on I HEART BERLIN over and over again. Amazing show-stoppers who are able to walk the walk and easily put any wannabe Topmodel contestant to shame! We are talking about the talented drag queen scene in town pulling off one nice costume party after another.
One of the driving forces of the drag scene in Berlin right now is Pansy who hosts the Drag Race screenings at Südblock, the queer RnB party Sissy, the queer music festival Yo! Sissy and the drag show/party series “Pansy Presents”. Her events are not only an occasion for a fun get-together, but of course also for the local drag queens to show off their talent. The next one is a David Bowie Tribute at SO36 on January 31, 2016.
Berlin-based photographer Joseph Wolfgang Ohlert took some great photos for us at one of the previous “Pansy presents” parties showing some drag queens gone wild. Enjoy them after the jump.
Foto: Dima Povernov
We love to publish party pictures because it’s a way of showing the diversity of Berlins nightlife. Sometimes hip, rarely posh, trashy, glamorous and often underground, we tried to show you the multitude of the club and party scene. Just before the weekend starts, we have some special eye candy for you showcasing the creativity of the drag scene of Berlin. Dima Povernov is a freelance photographer who took some pictures at Pansy Presents: Disney Darlings at Südblock a couple of weeks ago. If you want to see how the drag version of the Little Mermaid, the Queen of Hearts, Shir Kahn and all the other lovely disney characters looked, you should definitely check out the pictures after the jump.