Paris clubbing collectives

Paris hasn't always shone in comparison to its big-hitting nightlife neighbours London and Berlin. France might have hosted some of the best of the jazz age and some wild parties in the ’90s, but recently nightlife critics had started wryly referring to Paris as Europe’s 'capital of sleep'.

Fed up with paying steep entry fees for sterile commercial venues, young clubbers took matters into their own hands. Paris’s nightlife scene is now ruled by independent 'collectives' – gangs of creative and enterprising young people determined to make their mark – each with its own vision, personality and musical agenda. See below for the LGBTQ+ selection in particular.

With dozens more 'collectives' cropping up each year – all with ambitious collaborative projects involving local artists, staged at improbable locations, often beyond city limits – Paris is gaining a new reputation as a cult destination for electro-techno scenesters the world over.