Summer 2025 was our longest season to date – 30 weeks, in fact, and we were there for every last minute, just like so many of you. Now that we’re finally in winter mode, switching gears and getting ready for the holidays, we’re finding ourselves with a lot more time to get nostalgic so we thought it was high time we delved into some of the very finest moments that took place under our roof – more specifically, beneath our discoball – this season. Come down the (virtual) rabbit hole with us and let’s relive the magic… one last time this year.
Opening Weekend
Our Opening Weekend is always one of our highlights – fortunately, we don’t peak at the gate! It was our earliest one ever, as we threw open the doors from April 11 this year. “This one felt like the perfect kick-off to a huge season,” says our Night Manager, Nick Sheehy. “It’s always a bit chaotic behind the scenes but honestly, it’s one of the most special weekends of the year. The turnout, the support, the energy – unbelievable.” And what’s a weekend at Pikes without a little bit of controlled chaos anyway? We are already counting the days until the 2026 Opening Weekend is announced – can’t wait to do it all over again with you!
Pikes House Party
“This is always the busiest, craziest, most alive night of the week,” says Nick, who really, truly, did not miss a minute of any party this summer, so you know he knows what he’s talking about. “The energy never dips. Every week felt like a proper family reunion: wild but full of love.” Nick cites highlights including CC:DISCO! (“She honestly is Pikes energy. She just gets it. Having her in the booth more this year has been heaven.”), George Fitzgerald and TSHA taking our signature Saturday night soirée to another level. TSHA was quick to agree. “It was too much fun – no phones and a full dancefloor. Shout out to Pikes for having Jackfruit take over Freddies twice this year! I had the best time.” Same girl, same.
Back to Mine with Sasha
Did someone say legend? Yes, we did, when we had the man like Sasha grace our booth for the very first time this season, w-a-a-y back at the end of May, when we’d been in our party groove for about six weeks. There are almost no words to describe the magic in the air and the energy in the room on that very special Back To Mine event, but we asked Nick to give it a good go anyway. “It was one of the most special Back to Mine nights we’ve ever had,” he declared. “Having Sasha in Freddies was honestly surreal. A proper legend and he delivered a deep, techy, stunning set.” Many minds were blown.
Sundays at Pikes
We always say that Sundays at Pikes are a marathon not a sprint, and definitely got into the perfect day-to-night rhythm over the course of the season. One of our biggest highlights was having the one and only Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy take over – according to Nick, she is “literally perfect in Freddies. She takes everyone on such a beautiful journey every single time, pulling out music that hits every emotion. Colleen makes you feel things you didn’t even know you needed to feel.” We’ve got teary eyes just thinking about it. Colleen herself had this to say about her experience: “I have had so much fun playing from start to finish in Freddies – the vibe, the heat, the sweat, the joy. And I would like to send a big up to the Pikes crew: Ebony, Stuart, Simon, Nick and, of course, Lorenzo who has to squeeze beside me in the little Freddies booth all night! It has been so much fun.”
Another epic guest appearance – one many partygoers have declared the ‘set of the summer’ – was the time we were joined by Dr Banana b2B Shanti Celeste. “People are obsessed with Dr Banana right now,” says Nick. “That back-to-back had everyone locked in from the first tune to the last.”
Pikes 45th Birthday Party
After four and a half decades, Pikes is still going strong and we were super touched that so many of you came to join us for our 45th birthday celebrations on Thursday July 03, 2025 – including Bushwacka!, who weaved a set of epic proportions for the occasion. “It was such an honour to celebrate 45 years of this iconic venue.” Says Nick in retrospect. “Seeing everyone come together – regulars, staff, friends and family – was emotional. I feel genuinely grateful every day to be part of this place and help keep its magic alive.” Awww… and we feel grateful to have you here Nick!
Chloé Caillet SMIILE
In 2024, Chloé Caillet wowed us with her first SMIILE event at Pikes, so we knew we had to invite her back for round two on Thursday July 10, 2025. Her joyous enthusiasm is infectious, her musical curation is on point and the vibes she brings are unlike any others – especially on this full moon night in peak season. “It was one of my absolute favourite events this summer,” says Nick. “A proper open-minded queer party: free, expressive, fashion, underground vibes. No judgement, everyone living their fantasy and it was musically incredible – pure joy from start to finish.” Chloe said she left the party “all smiiles and a full heart. Still can’t believe what happened, Ibiza still has the biggest heartbeat and you all made that happen. Thank you to every single artist and dances who poured their heart into this one and to all of you fabulous humans who came from all around the world and filled the room with unmatchable energy. I love you Pikes Ibiza – until next time!” Let’s set that date, Chloé!
Pikes Sessions
Our newest little midweek parties simmered along just perfectly this year, bringing in an eclectic mix of musically revered guests who were given free rein to play whatever they wanted in Freddies. It wouldn’t be a summer at Pikes without Fatboy Slim popping in, and Norm joined us for Vol.04 in July. “It was his first-ever all-night-long at Pikes,” says Nick. “Just ridiculous, from 11am until 4am, sweaty and packed with smiling faces everywhere.” We invited Ivan Smagghe down for Vol.05 in August, who “absolutely blew the roof off’ according to Nick. “There were some proper electro thumpers, as the room was going mad, sweaty, chaotic… perfect.” ‘Twas a bonne soirée and we do hope he’ll come back and do it again next season.
Ivan passed the Pikes Sessions baton to Cinthie for Vol.06 – a DJ who “is basically family now,” says Nick. “Amazing selector, amazing person and vinyl skills for days. We adore her.” And let’s not forget that special session when the Helliker-Hale Brothers hosted a poolside album launch followed by an all-nighter in Freddies: “Chaos in the CBD always feel like coming home,” recalls Nick. “It was magic.”
David Morales’ Birthday
“David being with us every other week has been such a blessing,” says Nick of the house music maestro’s bi-weekly residency with us in 2025. As always, the artist hosted his own birthday celebrations from the booth, as the clock struck midnight on August 20 and he turned 64 years young on August 21, the crowd went wild – and yet he’s barely aged a day since we first met him way back when he was filming his Needin’ You video at Pikes in 1988. “Morales has built his own little ‘church’ at Pikes. The singer he brought for his birthday was insane. Blew the whole roof off. People follow him. It’s beautiful to see.” David himself also told us he was: “Feeling the love right now. Where better to kickstart my birthday celebrations than at Freddies at Pikes Ibiza? You know how this goes down every year! Wow.”
Bushwacka! & Friends
Bushwacka! has long been a regular behind the Freddies booth – he’s definitely a big part of the Pikes fam. This season, we invited him to curate his very own night and the first ever Bushwacka! & Friends on Friday August 29, 2025 was beyond our wildest dreams. “He is one of the greatest,” says Nick sincerely. “Decades of experience and still fresh as ever. This was his first time doing a Friday takeover and it was honestly one of the best nights of the summer.” Needless to say, we were all pretty awe-struck when his special guest, Layo, stepped into the booth. Talk about a family reunion!
The following morning, we received a heartfelt message from the main man himself. “A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to making the first Bushwacka! & Friends event at Pikes so successful. All the security, bar staff, door staff and management at Pikes were amazing as always, the crowd was fantastic – such lovely people who came to dance and enjoy. And all the guest DJs SMASHED it out of the park. The venue was full to the rafters, and the energy was beautiful. Roll on the next event.” Hats off (or perhaps bandanas in your case!) to you Matthew!
DJ Harvey Mercury Rising
Our beloved cultural attaché graced us with his presence behind the decks only once this season, but in true DJ Harvey style, it was a Mercury Rising we’ll never, ever forget. It was the very first day of September – the day the island breathes a collective sigh of relief as we ease into the best months of the year. Only Harvey had no intention of letting us rest! “We only had one event with Harvey this year but it was special,” says Nick. “The buzz, the build-up and the energy in that room… it was unreal. People were queuing long before the doors opened just to be part of it. It was a proper Pikes moment.”
Disco Disco with Joseph Capriati
Every Disco Disco party is a treat – there’s no doubt about it. Those secret line-ups keep us guessing and then those special guests always knock our socks off, but when tech-legend Joseph Capriati stepped into the booth in the first week of September, we have to admit, we didn’t quite know what we were in for. He admitted that although he’s a disco record collector and has about 15,000 records for spinning at home, this was his first time ever spinning a disco set. “It was iconic,” says Nick. “You could tell he’d been digging for years – it wasn’t your basic disco tunes, it was art! And then, to top it off, he went off and told the world how special Pikes is and that genuinely means a lot.”
Capriati declared it one of his ‘favourite sets ever played” in an interview with Groove DJ School. He continued: “It really was my first disco set ever and the promoter, Marwan, even came over and said: ‘Are you SURE this is your first time?’ Honestly… now I will do more!” He laughs and even gets a little emotional as he recalls the occasion. “I loved it. I mean – it was Pikes! This legendary room, with the Freddie Mercury picture right there. I felt some epic vibes. I’d been preparing for that set for weeks before – and I’ve been collecting and investing in the records since I forst started earning money – so it really made me feel emotional when the promoter told me it was in his top five disco sets of all time. For me, that was everything – these words feel my soul. I don’t care about money or fame – satisfaction for me comes from creating these moments.” Bravo Joseph – please come back and do it again!
OpenLab with Erol Alkan
Another of our magical shared moments at Pikes this summer happened just one day after Señor Capriati blew us away – it was September 04, 2025 when the OpenLab crew took over the venue and invited the one and only Erol Alkan to join them and the venue was so hot it was almost on fire. “I’m obsessed with Erol,” confesses Nick.” Every time he plays, he just nails it. Whether it’s poolside or Freddies, he knows exactly how to take you somewhere. There’s never ‘one’ track – it’s just banger after banger.” And we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Freddie Rocks
Our annual fundraising extravaganza on September 5 – to celebrate Freddie Mercury’s birthday and honour his life by raising funds for Mercury Phoenix Trust, the foundation started by his Queen bandmates and manager to help in the fight against HIV and AIDS – is always a season highlight but 2025 took it to another level. “Last year felt unbeatable,” says Nick. “But somehow we topped it. The performances, the giant birthday cake, the madness – it’s one of my favourite nights every single year. The vibe is just unmatched. Everyone goes for it.”
Special shout out to the mirrorball-man Mercury doing his choreographed jams to the ultimate Queen medley with Freddie-inspired dancers on the Plaza Mayor terrace. We’re still going ga-ga over BLONDEWEARINGBLACK singing Somebody To Love as Ebony brought out the Freddie-themed birthday cake blazing with sparklers and we’re not going to lie – we still get a little tear in our eye thinking back to Nick’s rousing speech about Freddie’s spirit living on at Pikes. Thank you all, for giving so generously and partying in a way that would have made Freddie proud!
Halloween at Pikes
After 30 long, hot and extraordinarily fun weeks, it all comes down to this. Our annual Halloween event that sees every corner of the entire hotel – from the front gates, all around the gardens and in our special tennis court arena to the poolside, Room 39, The Sunset Terrace and of course, Freddies and the Bathtub Club – transformed into macabre scenes that could have sprung straight out of your wildest nightmare. 2025 did not disappoint! “Halloween is such a fun way to wrap up the season,” says Nick. “It’s spooky chaos at its finest. We had two events on the same night – 528 and Pikes – and somehow both absolutely smashed it. Production, costumes, energy… everything was on another level.” And now, the ghoulish gates have been closed for the season and Pikes is lying in state, taking a very well-deserved rest while we all work on building up our stamina for 2026! See you on the other side, folks!
