The return of Ibiza’s legendary Aura and six other unmissable parties

There was a time around 2010 when all roads led to a low-rise little discoteca on the San Joan road. The nightclub was called Aura, and on Friday nights it was home to Dantz, a weekly throwdown hosted by three long-time Ibiza residents – Hayden Trethewy, the club’s manager; Danny Rose, the night’s promoter; and the late, great Antz, Ibiza’s most beloved local DJ and legend in his own too-short lifetime.

It was a mythical time in the evolution of Ibiza’s party scene and for five golden years, Aura was at the heart of the action. With no entry fee, no guestlist and - crucially – no VIP area, Aura was where the island’s year-round northern residents flocked week in, week out. It was where we’d dance en masse, fresh from supper at Leah Tilbury’s equally iconic Ocho restaurant and it’s where Leah’s sister, the makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, rode through the garden on a horse as fireworks exploded across the Ibiza night sky. It’s where Bruce Parry and James Blunt held court in the creeper clad garden as Poppy and Cara Delevingne danced with Ibiza’s original hippies; and where more than one now-married couple (myself and my husband included) had our first stolen kisses. The little nightclub on the San Joan road was an epoch-defining element of Ibiza’s musical heritage and the void it left when it closed in 2013 has never been filled. 

So, it’s with hearts open and dancing shoes on that we gather tonight – April 7th - at Las Dalias’ Akasha nightclub, where Aura will finally return – as Funky Aura – under the helm of Trethewy and new stablemates Sunny Ramzan (Pikes Hotel) and Vaughan (Pacha’s Funky Room). For Trethewy, a long-time resident of Ibiza’s north, it’s high time for a return to the Summer of Love: ‘The authenticity of Ibiza has been diluted by the commercial explosion of the last decade and it’s made everything look and feel the same. We need to celebrate the people that make this island so different -  the creative people, the bohemian people, the unusual and beautiful and interesting and colourful people, because that's what's been lost. We’re bringing the whole community back together and having a party of that kind that the north hasn't seen since the end of Aura. Our parties were always inclusive rather than exclusive - black and white, gay and straight, old and young. They reflected the liberal, maverick, freewheeling spirit of Ibiza and that spirit is becoming ever more hard to find. That's what we're here to honour and celebrate. It can't come soon enough.'

Six other unmissable parties this month:

16.04 Cosmic Pineapple presents Cosmic Love at Akasha.

14 hours of day-to-night fun with Ibiza’s most cosmic crew. Expect sunlit family vibes in the Las Dalias garden with live art, fireside magic, artisan crafts and tarot. Come nightfall, the party heads indoors to Akasha where Ben Westbeech and Lex Wolf are on DJ duty til late. In support of Choose Love and the Syria earthquake appeal.

20.04 Opening party at El Chiringuito d’es Cavallet

Always a favourite of the local crowd, the opening of El Chiringuito has become one of the island’s most loved parties. Expect great food, high vibes, hot sun and free-flowing strawberry margaritas.

21-23.04 Opening weekend at Pikes Hotel

Opening nights are for babies – so say perennial party starters Pikes, who are throwing an all-singing, all-dancing opening weekend instead. Expect sexy suppers in Pamela’s, cocktails on the Sunset Terrace, dancing until dawn beneath the disco ball in Freddie’s and getting hot and steamy in the revamped Bathtub Club. Not for the fainthearted!

28.04 Opening night with Solomun at Pacha

Ibiza’s original super club throws open its hallowed finca-style doors on the 28th for an all-night party with Pacha Sunday stalwart, Solumn. The night sold out weeks ago, so you’ll have to beg, steal or borrow to nab your spot.