Here’s a new parenting milestone for you — baby’s first rave.
Millennials Kevin and Kelly Bond love the nightlife almost as much as they love each other, so much so, they danced their way into married life by honeymooning in the Mediterranean party capital, Ibiza.
And when Kelly, 34, found out she was pregnant with twins, her joy was only matched by her sorrow to think that the days of dancing to electronic music in a crowd of sweaty strangers were over.
That was until they discovered the babies-and-up rave scene gathering steam in the Big Apple of late.
On a recent weekend afternoon, the paternal party animals hit the floor — each with a ten-month-old twin strapped to their chest — at Little Ravers, an event in an industrial chic space in Brooklyn drawing thousands on just one Saturday. The fun-loving foursome bounced along to EDM-styled remixes of “Baby Shark” while colored lights swirled around.
“This is kind of perfect because we [the parents] can enjoy it and they [the kids] can enjoy it too,” Kelly told The Post.
Welcome to the world of baby raves — where the energy is high, but the sound levels are safe for children and parents approaching middle age, the lighting is top-notch but won’t overwhelm, there’s face painting and party favors like juice boxes for the kiddos and canned cocktails for their multi-tasking elders.
“Kids go all out on the dance floor, loving every second of the lights, music and interactive elements. But we’ve also seen parents relive their festival days, dancing just as hard — sometimes harder — than their kids,” Adam Lewis, one of the co-founders of Little Ravers, told The Post of the 90-minute events.
Raves started in the 80s, when millennials were born, and became a mainstream party vibe by the 2000s, around the time the generation was dancing in college basements and attending music festivals.
Today, the baby rave craze recently made its way over the Pacific Ocean from Australia — and beat-boppers of all ages are hooked.
“I love to party,” four-year-old Lucas Lopez told The Post, thrilled to be attending his first rave.
Beyond vibing on the bumping bass, the millennial parents in attendance were excited to share their culture with their children.
Nadine Walker brought her young son Lucas to the event with his best friend, Killian, 3, to let the boys run around and burn off some steam. She didn’t expect to wear herself out, too.
“I haven’t been to a club in years, and I felt like I was in a club,” Walker told The Post, while chasing her distracted young dance partner around, who kept stumbling because he’s 3 — not because he’d had too much to drink.
To thirtysomethings Angie and Matt Mitola, raves are “very much our scene,” she told The Post. That’s why “the fact that we were able to share that with [our daughter] just made the experience so much better.”
They were “excited” to drive an hour from New Jersey to attend the Little Ravers event, but it wasn’t their youngster’s first. The theme of their daughter’s recent first birthday was “Baby’s First Rave.”
While some might associate raves with wildly packed crowds, loud obnoxious music, overwhelming strobe lights and smoke machines and dangerous drugs, that’s not what it means to the Mitolas.
“As we bring her into the scene, I want to keep what’s at the core of it. It’s just about having fun and showing respect to the people around you,” Angie explained, referring to PLUR — the raver’s code of conduct, or Peace, Love, Unity, Respect.
She hopes these events will be places her daughter will be “building those core memories that she’ll look back on and smile and say like ‘Wow, I had so much fun with my parents.’”
Zakkiyya Reece, 38, is hoping for the same thing.
She attended the party with her partner Maurice Gainyard Jr. 33, their son Avery, 3, and their daughter Kessler, 1.
The family all wore matching outfits — colorful get-ups with rainbow tutus and neon colors — inspired by dad’s rave world, which he was happy to introduce his children to.
“He was totally in his element,” Reece said of the pumped-up papa. She was also happy to see her typically shy daughter in her groove too, bopping up and down to the music, smiling brightly.
Her son Avery took a moment, but once he had a snack, he was ready to shake it with the other kids.
“There was a sense of camaraderie, I feel like it was a mix between the New York scene and the rave party scene. You’re just all there to have a good time,” Reece said to The Post, explaining the vibe.
“What made it so extra special was that it was something so unique.”
The family recently applied for passports and is considering planning their first international trip around another baby rave.
Hannah, 35, and Nathan Macchesney, 30, are pumped to show their one-year-old son Weston something new and cool, while also having fun. She attended the most recent party with her husband, their friends Briana and Zach Tatge and their son Landon.
They were all happy to find a new way to enjoy themselves and engage with their children.
“It’s our Saturday too, right? Like, we want to have fun,” Hannah told The Post.
“I’m always open to trying new things. That’s just one of the benefits of living in New York. There’s always something new and different and unique to do.”
Baby raves are going mainstream largely thanks to Lenny Pearce — the founding father of what’s known as Toddler Techno in Australia.
Pearce, a former member of the Aussie boy band Justice Crew-turned-DJ, began remixing nursery rhymes to make music that both he enjoyed and his toddler knew. He posted a clip of his version of “Wheels on the Bus” online last spring and immediately went viral.
The number of views and his daughter’s excited waddle showed him he was on to something. He now hosts family-friendly raves in Australia, Asia and beyond.
“[Millennial parents] like to be present with our children. We want to spend more time with our kids. We want to be the best parents we can be and guide them down the right path,” Pearce told The Post. “This is an event that parents can take their kids and enjoy as a whole, instead of just taking their kids and then just being bored, waiting until the show finishes.”
“It’s something that we can all enjoy.”
