It is a fact: the culture of well -being is no longer limited to yoga, meditation or healthy eating. Now it is also danced. The thing is The move of the sober holidays already arrived in Buenos Aires And it grows with proposals that begin during the day, they change alcohol for green juices, infusions or specialty coffee and hold intact the strength of DJs and electronic music. The phenomenon replicates what is already lived In cities like London, Berlin or New Yorkand responds to the same desire: enjoy the track with your own energy, without resorting to anything else. In Terraces, bars and open spacesmusic becomes a ritual of shared vitality, where the community finds a new way of celebrating.
The Welfare Revolution
Ale Lacroix is, without a doubt, the great icon of this new move. After more than 30 years of experience as a night DJ, with up to 120 dates per year, he decided to turn his life and move the track in the morning. It happened after a resounding change of habits driven by the reading of the book “The 5 am club” by Robin Sharmawhich 7 years ago led him to leave the night to start hugging the dawn. “I installed the habit of getting up early and thought how I could unite my two worlds. So it was born ‘Awake Up & Dance ‘which is basically an invitation to get up early and dance “account. What began as a personal experience became a disruptive format that conquered an audience with eager to have fun healthy. “I like to be part of the welfare revolution. This is not a fashion: they are the parties that come, a concept that comes to stay,” he says.
The invitation is on Sunday mornings on the wooded terrace of Moby Dick, in Costanera Norte. The appointment summons runners, bikers and habit of the healthy life that change the drink for coffee, green juices and infusions. The ritual starts at 7.45 with yoga and meditation, to give way to electronic music from 9 to 12, in a climate that reproduces the energy of the morning but with another consciousness. “All happiness hormones are naturally generated by the body, we do not need anything else to dance and celebrate life,” says Lacroix, which is given the pleasure of sharing cabin with his son Felipe. The next edition will be on September 28, with the same proposal: dance strong, finish at noon and continue the day without hangover.
And if there is a drink that has encouraged this type of parties, it is certainly coffee. The “Coffee Raves”, a trend in Europe, arrived this year in the country by some entrepreneurs. One of the pioneers was Camila Sen, who launched Am Coffee Party. “It seemed like a healthy and interesting alternative, different. With coffee, with music, DJ sets and gastronomic proposals. He wanted to bring that experience to Buenos Aires, give him the badge of being able to enjoy music and a party space during the day,” he says.
The project is held in three words: energy, community and joy. Young people between 21 and 35 years old, curious and fans of the specialty coffee, are the core of each edition, who move from one cafeteria to another as part of their identity and in search of renewing. “Music can be enjoyed in any way, at any time. There is no need for a nightlife or alcohol consumption or other substances. Coffee was always a meeting point and today it can also be the engine of a dance floor,” summarizes Sen, which already thinks of a future “Palooza Café” to gather different DJs and expand the move towards other cities and provinces. Although in the short term, the next appointment will be on September 20 in Bilbo Café.
Community and culture
If something distinguishes these new sober holidays is the climate of community that generate: open, accessible and relaxed spaces where music is shared as much as coffee. In this registry it moves Espresso Club, created by a collective of artists, DJs, producers, photographers and filmkers who sought to break the night mold. “For a long time, electronic music was tied to the night, to bowls and exclusivity. We wanted to open a more diurnal, accessible and authentic space, where coffee, music and art merge,” says Fabricio Obljubek, part of the creative team.
More than a party, Espresso became a cultural movement with a strong sense of belonging. “A ‘Coffee Rave ‘ is to dance on the sidewalk with a Flat White In handchat with strangers who later become friends and connect with the community in a unique environment, ”summarizes Obljubek. The proposal also expands in digital, since each session is shared on YouTube, accompanying their community at any time of the day. Coffee is the initial excuse, but what is in the foreground is diversity: young people, neighbors with their dogs, families or curious people who passed and stayed.
The community also nourishes proposals that seek to combine art, music and schedules other than traditional ones. In that field Kraft Collective moves, a project created by four partners passionate about the electronic scene and with an eye on offering something other than commercial. “We are inspired by the spirit of Berlin, where collaboration, expression, inclusion and respect are fundamental values. We felt that in the local scene there were few proposals cured, in an early schedule, with a good gastronomic and musical offer,” explains Matías Novoa, co -founder partner.
Its differential was clear from the beginning: events in cafes and bars, with vinyl sets and author cocktail bar – in the first meetings with coffee as an ingredient – that ended at midnight instead of starting at that time. The public, mostly young people between 25 and 35 years old, celebrated that alternative that allowed enjoying a party without transhochar. “We wanted to point to people who want to leave a Saturday, but at a more friendly schedule,” says Novoa. After their first experiences with Pampa Café y Bastarda, the producer already plans to grow: in November they will disembark in Artlab and work in their 2026 plan, with international DJs and regional expansion.
A change of time
What these proposals show is somewhat deeper than a passenger phenomenon. The rise of daytime and without alcohol festivals is inscribed in a cultural transformation that crosses a whole generation. According to a report by the Kantar consultant, 75% of Argentine young people propose to reduce their alcohol consumption, in line with what happens in other parts of the world. The study even identifies the calls “curious sober “ and “conscious drinkers”, profiles that do not necessarily stop drinking completely, but they seek to do it sporadically, more controlled and linked to specific social contexts.
This change is also reflected in the market: the categories of low or without alcohol beverages grow in double digit, and international brands launch 0% or lighter alternatives to capture an audience that does not want to give up to the ritual of providing, but for the effect of alcohol. As he pointed out The country In a recent article, more than Half of young people between 18 and 30 in Europe claims to have reduced their alcoholic consumption.
In that context, experiences such as Awake Up & DanceAm Coffee Party, Espresso Club or the Kraft Collective parties function as a laboratory of a new way of celebrating: with shared music, community and rituals, but without excesses. Sobriety ceases to be synonym for restriction to become choice. One that connects with the well -being, health and desire to live the party without paying the cost of the hangover. And above all, a way to redefine what it means to leave; Not to lose consciousness, but to find another form of connection, with oneself and with others.
Image gallery
