by Alexander Cheves
Lunchbox Candy started in 2021 as a Berlin queer rave and artist collective—part club night, part performance event, part queer community gathering place—with a sober party series called Sugar Free that gave Berliners avoiding drugs a happy place to dance and connect.
It was built around high-energy house, EBM, techno, breakbeat, and trance, with a big “come as your inner child” spirit. It found a home at ÆDEN in Kreuzberg and, later, at club Kreuzwerk, with resident sets from co-founders El Nino Diablo (Stephanos Pantelas) and Adam Munnings along with a steady and vibrant run of guest artists.
Now it’s over: in an Instagram statement posted Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, Pantelas announced he’s ending the series after four years, noting that (without anyone knowing) the “CHOOSE NOW” fourth anniversary party on Nov. 8, 2025—featuring live performances by Peaches and Zebra Katz—was their last gathering “for the foreseeable future”.
To properly say goodbye to a party that felt like unbridled queer love to many Berliners, we asked six artists (not just DJs, but members of the Berlin creative scene) who loved LBC to share their best memories from its four-year run.
Thanks for the love, Lunchbox Candy.
1. Tom Peters
Tom Peters (he/him) is a DJ and party organiser working in queer club scenes between Berlin and New York. His sets blend house and techno, often drawing on diva vocals, Latin sounds, and tribal. Mentored by the legendary DJ and mixing engineer Kevin McHugh, Tom Peters has held a longstanding residency with Susanne Bartsch at her infamous On Top parties. Some noteworthy places he’s played are Berghain, Basement NYC, and RSO. Tom is behind the party projects DESSERT and …is serving. (Last year, Tom was profiled for Hinterhaus by writer Charlie Taylor.)
Why was Lunchbox Candy special to you?
“Lunchbox Candy brought people together in a real way, and it’s genuinely very sad to see it end.”
LBC created a space that felt open and very human, which is rare and precious in nightlife.
In particular, the Sugar Free party—Lunchbox Candy’s sober rave series—was particularly special to Tom, who described his sober journey to us in his Hinterhaus profile.
“It showed me how strong and caring a dance floor can feel when authentic presence and connection are at the centre of it.”
2. NEOCAMP
The musician and artist NEOCAMP (he/him) starts by telling me how much he loves—not loved, loves—Lunchbox Candy. “It felt like the Berlin I was promised before coming here.”
As someone who felt out of place at the very serious techno parties but was not really into the pop girly things, I just wanted to dress up and be silly, but with great music. That’s Lunchbox Candy.
“It was truly queer and fun. I hope they transform into something new and continue the legacy.”
3. DJ handbag
DJ Handbag (she/her) is a Berlin-based DJ, booker, curator, and former Berghain bouncer. She shared her story and powerful perspective on nightlife with Hinterhaus last year and also wrote an essay for us on the roots and rise of queer house.
A member of Ooze Collective, DJ handbag plays sets that move between diva house, hard house, and UK garage, with a focus on queer and transfemme lineups.
She stresses that she has both played at Lunchbox Candy and been part of the floor there, and feels connected to the party equally through both roles. And anyway, she says, the boundary between DJ and dancer “mattered less” at those parties.
In the end, I’m just a friend of Lunchbox Candy. I’m showing up as a friend of the people who ran it and the people who loved it.
At LBC, she often “had that moment when the room clicks, when the floor, DJ booth and performances all became one, when the DJ booth and floor felt like the same place.” She calls this the “lunchbox effect.”
Lunchbox Candy gave me a feeling of belonging. It was where being messy, euphoric, and trans all felt not only allowed but celebrated.
Who would you like to give a shout-out to?
To “the door crew who created the vibe with care, and to every trans and queer dancer.” And to the Lunchbox Candy team:
Thanks for building a space that felt like a love letter to queer joy.
4. Immy
Berlin-based DJ and producer Immy (she/her) has many fond memories of Lunchbox Candy. The best happened the first time the party was held at the club Kreuzwerk. This was March of 2025, Immy estimates.
“I opened the Candy Flip floor at midnight, surrounded by dozens of my favourite people. I had a lovely but hectic night recording all of the sets.”
(Immy’s intense, focused, archival approach to nightlife—along with her intricate digging and music discovery process—will be detailed in an upcoming Hinterhaus profile.)
“Around noon, my friend Sherø was closing, and I cheekily asked if I could play a track for my friend who was celebrating her birthday that night. Instead of saying no or letting me play the track and get back to the dancefloor, she looked at me and said something like, ‘Listen, I’ve already played for four hours. Let me play two more tracks, and then you can close this party.”
Immy ended up playing for an hour—until the power went off in the middle of C&C Music Factory’s “Pride (A Deeper Love)”.
It was madness. I will never forget the energy in that sunlit garden full of dolls, dykes, queers, freaks, and friends, all screaming for more.
“I felt pretty sure that Kreuzwerk cut the power because they wanted to kick us out. But then the sound technician came out, apologised for an amplifier malfunctioning, and told me to keep playing. Oh, what a life!”
5. Nikolaj Tange Lange
Nikolaj Tange Lange (he/they) is a Berlin-based author and devoted raver. His books, written in Danish and English, detail (often in graphic, excruciating detail) the thrill and heartbreak of gay Berlin’s kink and drug underbelly.
Nikolaj’s best LBC memories are “the two sober parties I went to.” These were “hands-down my best party experiences in recent years, by all parameters.”
The “Sugar Free” parties were a haven, he says, for Berlin’s sober ravers.
“I like to party both sober and not-sober.”
Partying sober takes a lot of work, and sometimes that works feels like running uphill, but when it works, it pays off. At the Sugar Free LBC parties, we all were doing this work together, so it no longer felt like work, just joy.
“I looked at others on the dance floor, and when I locked eyes with someone, it seemed we could read each other’s minds. We were thinking the same thing: OMG, this is fantastic!”
In three words, Nikolaj describes Lunchbox Candy as joy, presence, and purpose.
Any shout-out?
“Yes. Shout out to Alvin, who did the Dose of Pleasure. This was a guided dancefloor session at the beginning of the Sugar Free parties. I don’t think I’ve ever been served life like that before.”
Nikolaj’s message to the former LBC crew:
Thank you. Please don’t stop. Berlin needs you.
6. MINQ
My favorite LBC memory is playing at Sugar Free. It was my first time DJing at a sober party, and it was so fucking fun. The crowd was so alive and present.
For a DJ, why is a sober rave so special?
Thank you for all your hard work and for showing up with so much love.
7. AUTOFLOWER
Hailing from the Netherlands, AUTOFLOWER played several sets at LBC. A favourite set was a 7-10 am slot at club ÆDEN for the Lunchbox Candy Ket Gala, held on 26 July, 2025.
“That party was freedom and joy. At Lunchbox Candy, you’d meet new people from all over the world.”
It is an honour to be part of this community.
AUTOFLOWER’s biggest shout-out goes to co-founder Stephanos Pantelas, aka El Niño Diablo. “Of course, to Stephanos,” AUTOFLOWER tells me. “The legacy lives forever!”
