After 18 or so months of no club nights, Wigflex's dedicated ravers waited through what seemed to be impossible circumstances. After an unsuccessful application to the relief grants for venues, club nights and organisations, to see Wigflex come back even stronger for their day to night 15th-anniversary festival, with a stunning line up to boot, was nothing short of impressive.

Walking through Nottingham city centre during Wigflex City 2021 every street was packed, and the faint sound of kickdrums in the distance acted as a guide for crowds, who giddily passed from venue to venue, some stopping off to share a bottle of tequila with new friends they met along the way. Such are the kinds of intimate moments you stumble into at Wigflex, which imbues the city with a kind of magic. Headed up by Lukas Wigflex and Avarni Bilan, the event series started as a weekly residency at Stone Bar aiming to play music like Actress, Shackleton and Untold that couldn't be heard in local clubs at the time. "I recorded a mixtape called Wigflex 2000 to help promote these weekly sessions and handed hundreds of them out. They started to get busy so we decided to start doing proper parties in clubs at the weekend," explained Lukas.

While the current Wigflex parties are more reflective of the club aesthetics at nights out across the UK—huge warehouse spaces kitted out with lasers, people with bum bags strapped around them and wide range of bucket hats—the early events reflected their humble DIY approach. Visuals consisted of Nintendo 64 booths playing Mario Kart and simple installations, while entry cost 99p. "Those early days were the best," said Lukas. It's no surprise that Wigflex has morphed into what it is, being so central to a lot of DJs, producers and club seshers.

This year's edition was held across more than 20 venues in the city, including outdoor markets, churches, pubs, warehouses and sweaty basements, where the expertly curated lineup eased the audience into the night. When I caught up with Hannah, a local Nottingham university student, who was attending a Wigflex night for the first time during the 15th birthday festival, described the experience as feeling like she was "trapped in a dance move, in all the best ways."

London-based DJ, producer and now live performer FAUZIA opened the event in The Church—a massive, gothic-looking building right in the centre of town. Her emotion-wrought performance created a charged atmosphere, followed by Danish R&B artist Erika De Casier, whose lyrical style had a similarly haunting effect.

Then it was off to Unit 12 for New York duo AceMoMa (AceMo and MoMa Ready), whose set was a showcase of their technical prowess. Using the CDJs as instruments more than tools, they wove elements of house with hardcore and broken basslines that energised the crowd as the sun set. Tim Reaper followed, taking the energy of the US duo's mix of house and their unique take on breaks towards the propulsions of jungle and drum & bass.

With lasers shining, clear punchy speakers and a huge basement area, one of the main venues The Brickworks provided an ideal environment for techno heavyweights LSDXOXO and Helena Hauff. Afterwards, I made it to Metronome, another venue fitted with a full A/V setup, just in time to see the apex of Anz's set. The Manchester-based DJ went from dubby classics to straight up bassline shellers.

Fittingly, namesake Lukas Wigflex closed out the occasion, taking the dancers all the way into the next day. "Lukas is a committed visionary," said DJ Call Super. Although the London and Berlin-based artist did not perform at this year's edition, he is a part of the festival's extended family and made sure to sing his praises of the founder. "He is motivated by all the best things in life—a wish to bring people together in a special way. There is no motive around profit or ego or career in his world."

Resident Advisor · Lukas Wigflex - Wigflex Stage Gottwood 2018

Wigflex City 2021

“It was lovely playing my ambient tracks in a space with natural reverb, felt very surreal!” Said producer Fauzia, who warmed hearts during her performance in The Church.

Dr Banana in the mix for a UK garage b2b.

Giant Swan thrashing it out for their live hardware techno set.

"I’ve heard so many positive stories about people's experiences of Wigflex over the years so to have an opportunity to play for them for the first time was exciting. Lukas has definitely built something great from the ground up and to be able to put something of that scale on after 15 years is an achievement in itself and it felt like that my debut was being a part of that," said London-based producer and DJ Parris on playing his debut at the 15th anniversary festival.

Helena Hauff and LSDXOXO sending us into a trance.

Anz taking us on a journey across genres and BPMs.

Wigflex History

“[Wigflex] have always been very supportive of me, and put me in the best set times when I’ve played for them. Go above and beyond with artist liaison, and are super fun crew to hang out with even when you’re not being booked for a party of theirs!” Said Danielle, who celebrated her birthday with a set at Wigflex presents on February 8th, 2020.

Call Super gracing the Wigflex decks on February 8th, 2020.

Lena Willikens b2b Vladimir Ivkovic at Wigflex City Festival 2019.

Wigflex parties through the ages.