Better Nightlife

Better Nightlife is an independently operated community resource and database designed strictly for ravers, party chasers, collective aficionados, and nightlife patrons alike. Directed by a community of like-minded DJs, organizers, and partygoers, the project aims to solve a classic problem exacerbated in the digital age - where do we go to party safely?

In the wake of 2020’s COVID outbreak and the subsequent lockdowns, nightlife culture was changed forever. Our extended stays at home watching the ever-evolving media frenzy made us all question what felt safe and meaningful in event settings and challenged the precarious ways we had partied since the dawn of the DJ. Myriads of questions arose via internet forums and social media, with answers coming solely from those still in the thick of it - Where can I party? Will the event require COVID tests or masks? Will there be Narcan? Is the venue queer-friendly, or more specifically trans-friendly? Is the venue allowing Zionists to perform? Are the DJs being paid fairly? Is there free water, or will I risk passing out on the bathroom floor…?

Introducing: Better Nightlife.

We aim to create a free, simple, and structured way to check the policies of your favorite venues, collectives, and organizers and offer suggestions for others focusing on what you care about. Need Narcan, earplugs, and First-Aid on-site to feel comfortable partying? Done, here’s the list of venues with comprehensive harm prevention. Want to guarantee your favorite collective is paying its artists fair rates, and doesn’t book Zionists and Nazis? Easy, we’ve already checked on that for you, and here are some more groups with a moral backbone to check out. Need accessibility for a wheelchair or other physical disability? Absolutely, here are all the venues in your area with accessible entryways and spaces. We do this through our website, with aggregated data collected and reported from like-minded fans like you, as well as check-ins from our representatives (a fancy way of saying we like to party ourselves!).

All collectives, venues, and organizers we list on our site must follow a basic set of guidelines, created with insight from the party makers themselves and well-intentioned superfans (think of Waze or Transit – users report data independently, and all we do is sort it in an easy-to-understand format.) But it’s important to note with all of these rules, we never want to exist as a strict policing body, so we offer numerous ways to stay in our network. A gentle and clearly defined strike system allows any venue, collective, or organizer to contact us to guarantee their policies if a discrepancy is reported and work with us to improve. And we understand - shit happens, and sometimes parties can’t hold up to these guidelines, and that’s okay. While we remove groups that don’t follow our policies from our page, they are always welcome to reach out and re-apply at any time, especially if fans are letting us know things are different. Unlike big aggregated event sites like Resident Advisor, we encourage direct fan feedback and love to hear what’s happening at the community level.

If you have any questions or would like to help us with our mission to provide safer, more accessible nightlife, please read more on our Get Involved page. (Hint – email admin@betternightlife.org!!)