The days of the 2009 petition to save Paris’s nightlife are long gone. Since then, several collectives and cultural spaces have breathed new life into the scene. Yesterday’s night owls in Berlin can now keep the party going in Paris at 6B, La Ferme du Bonheur, or at parties thrown by the 75021 Collective and La Mamie’s.
After a few gloomy years, the rave scene in Paris has finally come back to life. If you need proof, not one but two documentaries have just come out on the subject.
The Underground Sound of Paris by video platform DJ Sounds covers the emergence of techno in the 90s, the challenges it faced and its recent revival. “I was in New York in 1993 when techno (especially house) really blew up. I’d say ten years ago was an important time for techno in Berlin. And now it looks like it’s Paris’s turn,” says D’Julz of Bass Culture Records in the documentary. From Techno Parade’s free street parties to raves at the REX Club, police raids and new parties, the film retraces the highs and lows of electronic music in a city that for a long time seemed hesitant to open up to the electronic scene.
The title of the second documentary is pretty on the nose: Le Renouveau (literally “Revival” in French). With the likes of La Ferme du Bonheur, Camion Bazar, Alter Paname, OTTO10, District Factory, La Mamie’s, and Microclimat: this new generation of party promotors is pushing past the borders of Paris proper, with events taking over the abandoned warehouses and strange utopias of the suburbs for a night, or even right in the middle of the afternoon. Look out, Berlin! This revival is putting Paris back on the party map!
Discover our selection of alternative and cultural spots in Paris with our free city guide Indie Guides Paris.
Article translated by Andrea Perdue