We'll always remember September 2026 as the month we packed our bags (and our kids) and brought the Kinder Rave overseas for the very first time. We want to thank our local hosts in Birmingham, UK, and Santander, Spain for welcoming us into their communities. We'd also like to shout out our local Kinder Rave San Diego chapter, whose vibe-filled first event reminded us of the early times here in Berlin!
FROM THE DANCE FLOOR
Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Kinder Rave Universe.
This month's newsletter is very special... because it's nearly 4 1/2 years in the making. The Kinder Rave community has grown through many different means of communication since we threw our first family techno party back in the summer of '22, but until now a newsletter has not been one of them.
You may have signed up for the Kinder Rave Universe at one of our recent events, or you might be joining us from our Creative Parenting Club series on Substack. Either way, we're happy you're here. Going forward, you can expect to receive this newsletter on the first Thursday of every month, and our main goal is that you'll always be excited to open it.
As the calendar turns to autumn, we're thinking back with appreciation on another busy summer full of memories we'll be taking with us into the colder months. One of many experiences I'll be smiling back on is when my own mom, a concert pianist from a lineage of classical musicians, joined me behind the decks during our Museum Island takeover and I showed her how to drop the bass for the first time (spoiler: it's a lot easier than playing the piano). I'll bet she didn't exactly see this coming when she signed me up for violin lessons as a 5 year-old.
They didn't have the Kinder Rave back then, but DJing with my mom made me reflect on the long tail impact of the decisions we make and the various paths we set in motion. What interests are our kids already showing now, and where might those interests lead? Which future passions have they not even discovered yet?
Who knew violin lessons would lead here?
We don't know what the long tail of the Kinder Rave Universe might be, but we hope the destination will be somewhere fun and colorful. Speaking of fun and colorful, if you're in Berlin we encourage to check out our special edition Brazilian Kinder Rave this weekend at the Festsaal Kreuzberg, in collaboration with Bossa FM. It's going to be a blast!
Stuff you'll also find in this month's newsletter: our Mix of the Month by way of Berlin, Mallorca, and Venezuela; some parenting wisdom we picked up outside the Kindergarten; Kinder Rave ear protection headphones; our upcoming takeover at the Deutsche Kinemathek; and a recommendation at the end with one thing we love.
Thanks for reading, and see you soon ✌️
-Matt from the Kinder Rave
MIX OF THE MONTH
The Kinder Rave is made possible by the contributions of many talented performers, artists, organizers, and other creative people who happen to be parents.
Berlin Family Radio is our SoundCloud channel where we release live recorded sets from our events along with mixes from parent DJs and supporters all around the world.
This month's mix comes from ABRIBASS, who kept us all on our feet during our last rooftop party of the season this past month in Berlin.
Here's some more info about ABRIBASS, who goes by Abri when he's not busy captivating dance floors:
ABRIBASS is a Berlin-based DJ and producer from Venezuela, with musical roots in Mallorca. Known for his wide range of sounds, he moves across Afro, Latin and Tribal House, smooth Balearic grooves, hardgroove and techno. He plays at various Berlin venues and has been part of the Kinder Rave community since the beginning. As a parent himself, he also performs and collaborates with the project. His sets bring together everything from percussive grooves to fast-paced, polyrhythmic sounds.
ABRIBASS
Berlin, DE
Listen to Abri's set and follow Berlin Family Radio on SoundCloud!
PARENT WISDOM
We are all in search of a balanced life: where family, work (however you define it), friendships, and personal aspirations can live peacefully together.
Becoming a parent rocks this balance to its core.
Who am I now? Am I any good at this? And what am I giving up in the process?
The identity shift after you have kids is no picnic, and amidst all the parenting advice out there, it's the part that no one seems to warn you about in advance.
The good news is: we're all in this together.
That's why every month in this newsletter, you'll meet a new parent from the Kinder Rave community and get a glimpse into how they're thinking about family life with all its highs and lows and moments in between.
This month's Parent Wisdom comes from Bea, a Berlin marketing professional and Friend of the Kinder Rave who we originally met while dropping our kids off at school (where else?):
I think if I have one goal as a parent, it's to enjoy it all. I was really terrified of these moments that you feel you're not enough anywhere. You're not enough at work. You're not enough at home. You're not enough of... whatever, partner, for yourself. And that was my singular goal, like just to be in a state of flow. And of course, I get these months where I completely unleash and lose my shit on everyone, and that's when I know it's like: okay, out of balance, clearly not working right now. I think I read a quote somewhere that said, "I identify as a gentle parent, but sometimes that includes also, 'sorry, I lost my shit.'" And I think that sums it up really well!
Bea applying some parent wisdom
To everyone out there who lost their shit at some point over the last month: we see you.
Got some parent wisdom you'd like to share? Answer our questionnaire and we'll feature your words in an upcoming newsletter.
EVENT RECAP
It's been a month of new adventures at the Kinder Rave, but one of our most special days in September came at a place that has become joyfully familiar: the Klunkerkranich rooftop high above Berlin. On Sunday September 06, we returned for the third edition of our collaboration this year with Klunkerkranich, which opened on top of a shopping mall parking garage in 2013 and has since become a cornerstone of Berlin's club culture.
We want to thank the entire Klunkerkranich team for their openness and friendly collaboration throughout the summer season. They embraced the Kinder Rave from Day 1 and shared our vision of a club dance floor where it's fun to bring your kids.
Speaking of sharing visions: a massive thank you to The Template out in San Diego, who showed a similar openness in hosting our first ever US event, which looked like great fun.
We're always on the lookout for new places to pop up. Got an idea for where to bring the Kinder Rave (in Berlin or beyond)? Send us an email at hello@kinder-rave.org.
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
On the topic of things that were a long time in the making: at the end of the summer we received our first shipment of our new Kinder Rave kids ear protection headphones. Unveiled for the first time at our end of summer event, it was exciting to see the dance floor fill up with little pops of bright color protecting the ears of our youngest ravers.
Also exciting: trying on the headphones to protect our own grownup ears during a recent club night without kids (we chose the yellow pair!). It's not often you find a piece of headgear that can be adjusted small enough to fit a baby and also big enough for a large-headed adult. The headphones blocked out a bit more noise than our ear plugs usually do, but still let in more than enough sound to enjoy the music.
Let's be honest though, we mostly wore them for the look.
Our ear protection headphones are available in the five colors shown above and can be purchased online via our website or in person at any Kinder Rave in Berlin.
We ship everywhere in Europe and hopefully also soon to the US!
The days are getting shorter, the mornings crisper, the nights longer. For the Kinder Rave, that means it's the start of indoor season: when we're more determined than ever to keep giving ourselves and our families something fun to look forward to.
We're already off to a promising start, with two great collabs lined up to begin October:
🗓️ ThisSunday the 4th of October we are excited to team up with Bossa FM, one of Europe's leading promoters for Brazilian music and culture, for Bora Dançar! - a Kinder Rave with Brazilian flavor at the Festsaal Kreuzberg in Berlin. Featuring Brazilian food, activities, and a bangin' South American-inspired parent DJ lineup with Brazilian/Taiwanese fusion master Chióca, Stil vor Talent and Get Physical extraordinaire Los Cabra, and a special live performance by Nauti Siren, the saxophone/vocal/electronic collaboration from American singer Jessie Evans (who honed her craft in Brazil) and 90s legend DJ Dmitry from Deee-Lite. Get tickets on the Bossa website.
🗓️ NextSunday the 11th of October we’ll be running it back with a special family takeover of the Deutsche Kinemathek - Germany’s largest film archive. Located in a former illegal club (the E-Werk in Berlin-Mitte), the Kinemathek will welcome us into their exhibition hall for our usual shenanigans alongside film-themed kids activities, a screening room featuring some of the earliest silent film reels from the 1920s, and some more cool visual material and projections from the Kinemathek’s archive. If you're in Berlin, this is definitely some screen time you’ll want to allow… and the lineup is pretty cool too, featuring Emo Rugene from the running collective Run n Rave, Berlin House & Disco Queen Babxi, and Kinder Rave legend Vernimoonwho we always know is going to bring it. Tickets are available on the Deutsche Kinemathek website.
We've also got some additional dates in the works which you can already mark on your family calendars:
Be on the lookout for our Halloween Party, Sunday 01 Nov!
And on Sunday 22 Nov we'll be taking over Monkey Bar in West Berlin for an all day Kinder Rave overlooking the Berlin Zoologischer Garten
One of the joys of this project is getting to know people all over the world who are doing wonderful creative things in their communities. At the end of each newsletter, we will share something that got us excited this month.
At the risk of going "too Berlin" with our first newsletter, this month we are highlighting Sfera because it's one of our favorite spots for amazing and accessible plant-based food - and they need your support! Sfera is one of those places where even non-vegans (🙋♂️) will find something to love and marvel at the creativity and quality of the dishes. More on the nose, we met the owner of Sfera this summer during a casual lunch stop and she has since been open on social media about the financial challenges facing even a popular and trendy restaurant that everyone seems to love. It's a reminder that the things that bring life and culture to our communities - art, music, good food - involve a lot of hard work and stress that aren't always visible to the outside world... and that we have to stick up for our friends and neighbors who build the things we all get to enjoy. We are proud to support Sfera and other local establishments fighting for their place in our cut-throat economy, and encourage you to pay them a visit sometime, whether you live in Berlin or the next time you find yourself here :-)
We believe strongly that one of the best things people can do for other people is to appreciate and amplify each other's hard work:
If you're excited about the Kinder Rave, share this newsletter with your friends!
And you've got something else that you think Kinder Rave parents would be excited to know about, fill in this form and tell us more. Future recommendations will focus not only on Berlin but also on cool places and experiences in other locations, as well as the occasional recommendation you can enjoy digitally.
Wherever you're located, if you've got a cool idea, tell us about it so we can share it with the whole community!
Thank you for being part of The Kinder Rave Universe.
