Right now we're in the thick of August otherwise known as “silly season.” That means packed dance floors at the island's most popular parties. Many love that, but if that's not what you're after, you have plenty of options. It's Ibiza after all.
Of the hundreds of parties available any given week, some less busy nights still guarantee exceptional music and production. These are great options in this period.
Nightclubs are for dancing after all. If you like to have more room to dance and move around freely, we have compiled a handy list of parties. Here things are a bit airer but the party vibe no less compromised.
To beat the crowd and still have a great time, here are our top picks.
The Masquerade | Pacha | Mondays
Elusive but far from shy, Claptone is the showman host of The Masquerade on Mondays at Pacha with a taste for the theatrical. Bringing some Venetian culture to Ibiza Town, our masked hero encourages attendees to immerse themselves in his magical universe.
Felix Da Housecat, Mr Doris, Todd Terry, Danny Tenaglia - here is a party that boasts house music royalty amongst its guests. And while the soundtrack might be great, Claptone ensures that the production is also at its dazzling best.
WHO CARES? | COVA SANTA | TUESDAYS
While most parties rely on the line-up to sell tickets, Who Cares? breaks the mould - commendably - by keeping things hush, hush on the down-low. Choosing instead to operate with hints, rumours and word of mouth, it means you can never be quite sure what to expect.
Although applause-worthy, this method has made the party hard to market. However, so far we've seen the likes of Adam Port, Red Axes, Inner City, Bedouin and Ricardo Villalobos b2b Luciano - quite impressive - as well as collaborations with Ethereal, OpenLab, Cocoon and more. That calibre of artists should persist, but in the end who cares!
DANCE OR DIE | Ushuaïa | Wednesdays
Nic Fanciulli's last Wednesday party - La Familia - was a certifiable tech-house mecca, but with DANCE OR DIE he has cast his net over a more diverse pool of talent. Guests range from the monumental such as Loco Dice to lesser-known quantities the likes of Jamie Roy, but he's even managed to snare Coxy for the opening and closing! How did he convince him?
Musically, this party is really varied. You might get the steely techno of Dubfire or the rare groove of Horse Meat Disco, the hypnotic rhythms of Guy Gerber or the leftfield sounds of DJ Seinfeld. These are bold line-ups and we love it.
Satori presents Maktub | HEART Ibiza | Thursdays
On an island dominated by DJ culture, how refreshing is it to have a night dedicated to live musicians? Though don't be fooled, you will hear some of the best electronic music anywhere on the island at Satori's labour of love.
While guests are only confirmed on a week-by-week basis, past names have included Acid Pauli, Stimming, Be Svensen and last week's heavyweight support Jan Blomqvist. Should you want to taste a different side to Ibiza's rich tapestry, Maktub is the party for you.
Toolroom | Eden | Sundays
What Toolroom gets right better than most other parties, is its balance between established acts and in-house talent. Names such as Jack Back, Nick Curly and Hannah Wants appear next to fledgelings such as GW Harrison, Alisha and Wheats.
Aside from the well-honed line-ups, it's been another glorious summer for the label on the release front. Big record has followed big record, so you can count on the core soundtrack being top drawer.
La Discotéque | Ibiza Rocks | Mondays
Technically, this party hasn't started yet - but since it's a new addition for 2019, we're going to shout its praises. La Discotéque is already worthy in our books for giving something a little different to the Ibiza Rocks program.
Seeing as the demographics of island visitors changes in September, we reckon the late start to this party is ideally timed. Maybe you thought Ibiza Rocks catered only to the younger generation before? We think these disco-flavoured line-ups will appeal to a slightly more mature market. And we include ourselves in that!
What all these parties have in common is that they are all new kids on the block. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Whilst these parties deserve more credit than they currently have, we should remind everyone that even the likes of Solomun +1, Music On and Afterlife also weren't champions in their first couple of years.
In a competitive landscape, reputations take several seasons to build. If these parties stick at it, we can imagine all of them going onto bigger things.
