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Music & clubs

Krake Festival 2021: Berlin’s favourite techno fest is back

Krake Festival is back, with online events joining live techno music at Anomalie in a closely curated bill featuring acts like Helena Hauff, Unwelt & Masma Dream World.

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Masma Dream World will perform live on Krake festival’s Ambient Sunday. Photo: Josh Lee

One of Berlin’s favourite techno festivals is finally back to its usual self. Here’s what to catch.

After last year’s augmented-reality production, Krake is back to full force. With an extended club night, radio takeovers and its annual comedown, chillout Monday, this year’s edition is set to be a classic.

In an interesting throwback to the lockdown version, some of the more popular online events have been retained for this year’s festival. The techno dinner party on Krake TV proved to be a hit last time around. This time, the good-humoured Killekill crew kick things off with agony uncle Wes manning the phones for a call-in special, and with everything from sex tips to tunes, it’s sure to get things going on the right note. This is the light-hearted touch that made Krake such an underground favourite over the last decade, and one of the reasons it always has a great crowd and atmosphere.

Day one (Thursday, November 11) will take place on the airwaves with a Hör radio takeover and Krake TV special, but it’s on day two (Friday, November 12) that things start to get serious. Distinguished selectors like Helena Hauff, Umwelt, Khan and S Ruston top a closely curated bill at Anomalie. As always, Krake tends to eschew the biggest names in order to bring you the most interesting performers from Berlin’s best parties. Taking place across three floors, the day and night party at Anomalie runs until 4pm the next afternoon. Showcases from Warning, Strictly Strictly, Sameheads and more should keep the party rolling with ease and enough variety for everyone, letting ravers slip between sounds until they find their vibe.

The rest of the Saturday events will take place online, before the good people at Krake make the responsible decision to devote the Sunday session to an ambient chill-out, for which your boss will thank you on Monday.

Masma Dream World, Moon Armada and Baby Vulture will be leading the day of decompression. And while it’s obviously not mandatory, it’s definitely advisable to bring things down a notch: the day-long affair will be available online for you to beam directly into your home, just in case your energy levels have been reduced to the horizontal.