10 Parties To Attend Before The End Of The World

Turn up to Haad Rin beach the day after one of these and you’d probably think it actually was the end of the world. The mass of passed out bodies, burnt out fires and empty buckets of cocktails resembles some kind of post-apocalyptic world. But get there in time for the party itself and it’ll be one of the wildest all-night beach raves you can ever encounter.

There’s something strangely appropriate about spending your last night on earth in the other-worldly hedonist’s playground in the desert that is Las Vegas. And if you want to party hard with 300,000 other clubbers, then the biggest electronic music festival in the USA is the place to do it.

At first glance, the straight-laced English countryside doesn’t seem like the wildest place to spend your final hours on earth. But every year, with the odd exception, Pilton Farm near Glastonbury is transformed into a heaving tented village where booze flows freely, middle-class accountants pretend to be hippies for the weekend and pretty much every band in the world turns up to play. Head to the late night party area of Shangri-La, home to the most hedonistic, epic and downright bizarre raves.

Renowned as one of the world’s finest techno nightclubs, this place goes off every weekend, with an anything goes policy inside. The now famed Finest Friday nights attract some of the most exciting DJs on the planet, although the all-hours policy on Friday and Saturday means that the weekend nights can blend into each other. Set in a dusty old power station in the post-industrial surrounds of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, concrete and metal decor makes it perfect for a pre-apocalyptic party.

You may blame the sunstroke for seeing hundreds of Santas in the blazing sunshine, but you’ll soon learn this is not a mirage but a traditional sight on Christmas Day at Sydney’s best party beach. Up to 4,000 partygoers cram on to the beach for BBQs, booze and an international line-up of DJs. Certainly beats the Queen’s speech. And if the end of the world doesn’t finish you off, then the dehydration from drinking gallons of beer in the heat while wearing a polyester Santa suit certainly will.

Celebrate in true technicolour, with one of the brightest street carnivals on the globe. This annual festival unites all walks of life in Brazil’s biggest city while the off-shoot ‘blocos’ – party band parades – across Rio become the scenes for some of the wildest socialising.

“Baby don’t worry, about a thing, ‘cos every little thing is gonna be alright…” There’s nothing like the soothing tunes of the great man of reggae to put your mind at ease when you may be worrying about little things like the end of life as we know it. Chill out on to live music with plenty of herbal accompaniments to help you relax. One location is Nine Miles, where Marley was born, high in the mountains among the cannabis farms.

If you love beer then you’ll love Oktoberfest. Simple. Even if you don’t love beer, you’ll still love it. The forthcoming nuclear holocaust will be the last thing on your mind when you’re dressed in lederhosen, swilling a tankard of frothy lager and singing drinking songs to an oompah band accompaniment while dancing on a table.

If the sun doesn’t go down then there’s no need to go to bed. And you know what that means – all-night party. Swedes do it in style every year as they celebrate the arrival of the all-night sun of midsummer. So herald the power of the sun before it burns out for good. Head out of the city to the archipelago islands and get back to nature for the best parties, with the island of Möja one of the most idyllic but also notoriously wild when the parties get started.