Raves are a thing of many peoples youths, dancing the night away in clubs, abandoned warehouses or on the beaches of Ibiza. They bring out the kid in many of us and as many of us age and start families, we do not want to sacrifice those exciting experiences of our youth. But imagine if you could share those raving memories with your children first hand? Well, now, its a thing, with thanks to Raver Tots!
Raver Tots celebrates the notorious UK rave culture by allowing families to dance and play at events that simulate the iconic raves that sweep the British music scene. At their events, DJ’s play the best in Drum & Bass, House and UK Garage, including tunes which you will definitely recognise from your youth.
Resident DJ’s at the moment include Nicky Blackmarket, who plays Jungle and some iconic drum and bass tunes. Also behind the decks is chart-topping Garage legends Pied Piper, MC DT and DJ Luck & MC Neat as well as old school raving pioneers Slipmatt, Vibes and Druid.
Mike Pickets, the founder of Raver Tots explains it as a “brand new party, where parents can re-live some amazing times to the sound of their favourite DJ’s of the club scene, whilst the kids can have a genuinely fun day out with tones of entertainment”
Mike has been a club promoter for 10 years as well as being a father of two young boys. He ‘s always loved organising their birthdays just as much as his job organising club events, “I decided to combine my work and family life which is how I came up with Raver Tots. The response has blown me away and we are selling out in many cities.” The event now runs nationally and has been a huge hit with families across the UK.
“It is rare to find something on a weekend that the parents love as much as the kids, but we seem to fill that gap.” Parents can expect to hear all of the dance classics from their youth, and experience an atmosphere full of smiling faces and hands in the air.
Mike has ADHD and as well as creating a raving atmosphere that parents and children can share, he wanted to make an event which was ADHD friendly, “I’ve struggled with it all my life. I wanted to create something for those with ADHD where they can work off some steam in a safe and really fun environment…
I wanted to make the ‘peace, love unity and respect’ ethos which is common in the raving world and highlight mental health with it.”
A large amount of money made from the Raver Tots events is donated to ADDISS, the leading charity for those struggling with ADHD. As well as this, £1 from every ticket sold is donated to the National Autistic Society.
There is activities from UV Face painting, face painting and a huge dance floor for the kids so there is no chance of them getting bored. Andy Riley took his daughter to one of the raves in Preston, “The atmosphere was great. I was honestly shocked at how good it was from start to finish.”
He plans to take his daughter to the next one, “We have already booked it! My daughter won’t stop talking about it to all of her friends so I think we’ll definitely have some extra little ravers with us next time…
“It is a fantastic way to show your children something from when you were younger that you loved. It was cool to experience it with them and see them enjoy it as much as we used to.”
Many parents have taken to social media since attending Raver Tots singing its praises and plastering photos of smiling parents and children all over the Facebook page. “There was definitely a sense of euphoria in the room listening to some of the songs. It was nice to meet people too…
“Everyone obviously had a mutual love for the rave scene and the music so conversation flowed and the kids all got on. I barely saw my daughter at some points because she was off boogying with the other kids!”
.@RaverTots @FireVauxhall going off ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/Z7RueZos0f
— The Artful Dodger (@ArtfulDodgerMC) December 16, 2017
The Raver Tots team have been overwhelmed with the response from the public, with some of their promotional videos being viewed over 7 million times in the last four months, “We have been featured in various national newspapers, on television as well as our events selling out. This has enabled us to focus our energy and time on making our events great fun and memorable experiences for the families.”
The Manchester Raver Tots event took place at Gorilla, in Manchester which is a favourite for the team, “we feel this is a really magical space with a fantastic team of people running it. We have a great working relationship with them and the have done a lot for making the event what it is in the North-West.”
Mike’s love for dance music definitely helps with his passion for the fantastic event, “As a kid, I used to save up to buy jungle tapes and by the age of 17 I had played my first DJ set at Brixton Academy.” Mike’s focus lies very much now with his family life, but he still has a huge love for the music, “Raver Tots enables me to keep a hand in the music I love but still be in bed by 10pm with a cup of tea!”
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