Best parties in Berlin this October
From listening sessions to playing dress up, here's where you'll find us this month...
October transforms Berlin's underground scene into a playground for sonic innovation, community celebration and, of course, dressing up [or down] all sexy and dark. Whether you're ready to experience some mad new technology that makes audio move around you or lose yourself in a sex-positive Halloween party, there's something for everyone this month.
02/10
CTM FESTIVAL x 3HD
Avant-garde festivals CTM and 3hd unite for an immersive warehouse rave introducing a new event format where select artists—¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, DJ Fuckoff, and mi-el—experiment with the brand-new Ambrio spatial DJ mixer on d&b's pioneering Soundscape audio system, sculpting sound in real time to transform the dancefloor into a fully immersive 360° audio experience. ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U ‘s uncanny ability to blend wildly different genres connects drill with hard techno, making gabber flow seamlessly into reggaeton, meanwhile SHERELLE brings deep love for jungle, footwork, hardcore, and grime and Minna-no-kimochi summons us with trance. This one’s going to be mind-expanding.
02/10
MULTISEX
As usual the programme remains unannounced because “you are the party”. However what we do know is a dynamic Father-Daughter duo is opening - the Hamburg native revered for his impeccable selection and pivotal role in the underground scene since the 90s, joined by his Berlin-born, Amsterdam-based daughter shifting between techno and house. An American house music connoisseur follows with a live set, before two absolute all-rounders—collective and label bosses ranked amongst the scene's best selectors—deliver an extended set. A local favourite and half of Berlin's hottest sibling DJ duo closes the night, bringing sonic fierceness synonymous with Berlin queer nightlife. Expect a hot crown and multisexual dance music at its finest.
03/10
FOGGY
An evening of bass, dub, experimental sounds, and club oddities featuring Warrior Queen live - an MC from Jamaica active for 20 years who worked with everyone from The Bug on Poison Dart to Lee Scratch Perry. After a decade away from the UK stage, she returned in 2024 and now brings her legendary energy to Berlin. Joining her is cutting-edge bass producer Monibi (Low End Therapy, Femme Bass Mafia), Dérive (host of the Poems party series at OHM), Ronja (Equinoxxx-affiliated THF resident), and Lily Haz (Foggy founder). Light installation by WD DIMMER for some added visual magic.
09/10
SESSIONS
Forward-thinking music platform Explorers launches a new listening series at Bar Neun in the heart of Kreuzberg. Each session invites musicians to leave their club sets behind and share music they rarely get to play—from formative tracks to hidden gems and entire genres they love. Hanaby, the visionary rising star of Berlin's DJ scene, kicks things off with her seamless blend of Deconstructed Club Music, Jersey Club, Gqom, Dancehall, Kuduro, and Bass music. Expect an intimate, social atmosphere with great sound and space to connect, listen, and discover together—no need to sit still, move, dance, or just hang as you like.
09/10
WEEEIRDOS
Lolsnake's freak show returns to Säule with Voiski (aka Homāyun Kheradmand) demonstrating technical finesse that emphasizes the sentimental side of techno, alongside Tbilisi-born, Berlin-based Salome with her mix of acid-infused techno and trance. The Iraqi-American founder of Weeeirdos fuses a maelstrom of textures—from metallic techno and angelic trance to squishy acid and cosmic bleep—stirring up heady atmospheres and hypnotic moods on the dancefloor. Weeeirdos was, and still is, an opportunity to arouse fun and freedom into the primarily dark, steely and occasionally pretentious aspects of the dance music scene. Rumour has it there’s plans to bring Weeeirdos on a world tour and kickstart its eponymous record label...
10 - 13/10
WE ARE NOT ALONE
Ellen Allien takes over RSO.Berlin for a 56-hour weekender delivering raw techno warehouse power, hardtech psychedelia, and underground intensity running nonstop from Friday night through Monday morning. As one of the most iconic artists of her generation, Ellen embodies the core ethos of techno—a visionary who looks to the future for inspiration. Venezuelan-born, Berlin-based Hyperaktivist shakes the scene with her characteristic energetic sets oscillating between faster techno and house with big 90s influence, while Ukrainian DJ and performance artist OLHA morphs shades of trance with techno and hardcore. Paris-based Slim Soledad brings her fast-paced, intense mix of heavy techno, hard-edged baile funk, electro and Latinocore.
10/10
HAMAM NIGHTS
Sedef Adasi invites you to another edition of Hamam Nights. Courtesy brings her work as DJ, composer, performer and visual artist in fluid connection, while British DJ Hannah Holland - a child of London's queer nightlife scene - delivers dancefloor-oriented sounds alongside scores for Bruce LaBruce films. Her latest album, Last Exit on Bethnal, is the soundtrack to an arthouse film she describes as "a poetic, surreal exploration of dyke power and sexuality set in mythic nightlife." London underground queer icon Josh Caffé completes the lineup for a night celebrating queer creativity in its purest form.
11/10
PORNCEPTUAL
Mexican/American DJ and producer, x3butterfly, brings their raw and ominous sound with a club twist to Pornceptual's sex-positive queer party. Having transitioned from experimental performance art to DJing, their sets combine jungle, drum and bass, R&B, dubstep, techno, and other world sounds at 140-160 BPM. Pornceptual runs sex-positive queer parties where the dress code is just as important as the music—get creative, embrace your kinky side, or be ready to strip down. If this is your first sex party, it always helps to acquaint yourself with the awareness team who are there to make sure everyone feels comfortable.
12/10
M.Á.S
It's time for M.Á.S's second edition at Weekend Club, and they're turning up the heat even more—hotter, sexier, and unapologetically sassy. Founded in London in 2024, M.Á.S emerged from the pulsating undercurrent of underground techno, raw and radically inclusive. In Berlin, M.Á.S continues to grow curating free spaces for sound systems without boundaries, looks without compromise, and guests without filters. Come early, stay late, and don't hold back.
17/10
TANGA
The summer is over but Tanga are here to warm your heart up with angelboy from Amsterdam bringing main lesbian girl energy, PSL from Berlin fulfilling the dancefloor with bounce, and Maxitalareal bringing Latinx vibes at the beginning of the night. Residents Khloe, Mama Yha Yha and ALP play that btch-to-btch set you didn't know you needed. Don't miss the drama.
31/10
INNERVISIONS
Through Innervisions, Dixon, Kristian Beyer (Âme DJ) and Frank Wiedemann (Âme live) have been shaping international club culture for 20 years - combining dancefloor perfection with emotional depth. To celebrate their 20 year anniversary, they’re performing with the label family and special guests. English musician Jamie xx - one of the most influential artists of his generation as founder of The xx and producer for Radiohead, Adele and Gil-Scott Heron - builds bridges between pop, ambient, garage and electronic avant-garde. Tri/xon (Dixon's collaborative project with Porto DJ Trikk) and JAMIIE (combining electronic elements with African polyrhythms) complete this hard hitting lineup.
31/10
TECHNO BARBIE DREAMZ
Techno Barbie's back from the grave for Halloween with NIGHTMARES, a spookilicious all B2B edition bringing together 12 DJs across two dancefloors, plus a chill-out area and dreamy garden to kiki, gossip, and breathe between sets. Known for serving high-BPM chaos, sass, and sweaty liberation, Techno Barbie Dreamz has quickly become a staple in Berlin's queer rave scene, creating safer spaces for FLINTA, BIPOC, and queer communities to dance, connect, and let loose. This special edition pushes the collective's ethos even further with playful drag, terrifyingly good sound, and Barbiecore gone dark. Expect sick beats by both iconic and emerging Berlin DJs, the most fabulous outfits by beloved Techno Barbie angels, and probably one of the most fun nights out you'll experience.
Images left to right: Silk tie, Future is FLINTA* tee, Urchin ring, Tekno shirt