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.
It feels like Berlin’s nightlife has been on hold for so long now, we can’t even remember how a club looks and smells on the inside. While the few clubs blessed with an outdoor area are shyly and quietly hosting some open-air parties this summer giving at least a small part of Berlin clubbers a bit of dancefloor magic, the majority of clubs that only have indoor dancefloors (which are about 75%) are now shut down for over a year.
Of course, this has totally created an imbalance. For the clubs, because those that don’t have the luxury of outdoor space are clearly at a disadvantage here, but also for clubbers because since there are so few options for legal parties that many organizers decided to keep their events on the low, or even if they publicly announce them, tickets sell out within hours which leaves many willing ravers without access to all the fun. This, too, seems pretty unfair.
Probably the most dreaded characteristic of Berlin is its continental climate – especially the ruthless winters. It feels like many expats would happily switch from a full-time residency to summer guest appearances – but as avowed Berliners, we have a bunch of strategies to cope with the cold and make sure you enjoy our beautiful Hauptstadt all year round. Read on to find out what keeps us warm and entertained!
photos: Alejandro Arretureta
The countless attempts at interpreting what Tony Visconti characterized as David Bowie’s ”parting gift”, the album “Blackstar”, reflect our yearning to get closer to the mind of this sublime artist. A yearning which is all the more compelling as it can never be fulfilled.
Last January, a lot of people experienced an overwhelming sense of confusion and disbelief. Not only did we lose a man who influenced the way we viewed the world, but also, just two days before that, we got another stunning glimpse at his genius.
photo: Max Patzig / CC*
I can still clearly recall the first time I set foot on the Kottbusser Tor. It was just different from anything I’d seen before. Its smell, dirt, and the zombie drug dealers whispering “ecstasy?” in front of the fruit and vegetables stand definitely made up for a powerful first impression.
Further perplexed by the army of dinky mannequins supposed to represent little boys sporting traditional attire in a shop on Kottbusser Straße, I pretty much knew Kotti would become a place close to my heart.
If there is one thing you can definitely experience in Berlin than it’s an unforgettable night. Berlin is so famous for it’s pulsating nightlife with the streets full of people moving from one bar, club, bistro and Späti to another like a big beehive. You have something for everyone here, all styles of music, fashion and fetish you can imagine. It’s a wild jungle that can be overwhelming at first but is one of the most fun places to be in the world.
We’ve been going out here now for way over 10 years and as much fun as we had it’s simply impossible to pick one special night that we could share with you. Instead, we wanna turn it around and give our readers a little advice on how to have an unforgettable night in Berlin, or more specifically: where? It’s hard to believe, with all the different guides we’ve written over the past years we never did a club guide! This needs to change so it’s happening today: We chose our 10 favorite clubs in Berlin.
Ruins of Maria am Ufer, photo: Michael
With events scattered around the city and free of charge the festival FUTUR25 celebrates the German reunion this upcoming weekend. Some may ask: Didn’t we celebrate the same thing last year? But no. Last year we celebrated the anniversary of the fallen wall with illuminated balloons along the way of the wall. What had become reality for the people only became politically official with the signing of the German reunion contracts, which happened a year later.
FUTUR25 now celebrates the 25th anniversary of this political milestone with great installations, exhibitions and concerts. Radialsystem V serve as the centre of the festival, but is certainly not the only venue! The section Trümmern und Träumen (“ruins and dreaming”) is for us the most exciting one as it focuses on the developments of the Berlin Club scene, brings important figures back on stage, and takes you around on rickshaws to the locations of previously legendary clubs and those that still exist after a wild history of over two decades.
Read more about a couple of the program highlights and see some archive photographs of long forgotten clubs and parties after the jump…
photos: Lisa Wassmann
What happens, when a pair of big nightlife makers of Berlin get together and create something new: Exactly, something bigger! And so goes the story of Sampson who has been running his crazy karaokee night Cherry-o-kie now for years and PANSY who has taken Berlin’s party scene by storm with her gay R’n’B party Sissy and her PANSY presents… drag extravaganzas. Those two crazy kids have teamed up to create YO! SISSY – Berlin’s first queer music festival which started back in July 2015. With a massive line-up of over 50 acts the festival took over the venues Schwuz, Neue Heimat and SO36 bringing together the diversity and creativity from all over the world onto the stages of Berlin. We are super excited about this new festival because it’s the first of its kind here in Berlin and it’s fresh and edgy and full of potential. We can’t wait for the much hyped third edition with Planningtorock, Chicks on Speed, Vitalic, Lotic and many other great acts happening from July 28 til 29, 2017. Watch out for the Yo Sissy market happening on Saturday during the day which is also gonne be with free entrance for everyone. Get your tickets and info here!