Drum and Bass rave with Play-Doh and prams comes to Peckham

A drum and bass day rave for children under eight will be coming to south-east London next weekend.

Spilling into the renowned Peckham Levels on 16th March will not be a barrage of tight lipped students, but a teeming mass of families.

With a tag line of ‘helping parents be responsibly irresponsible since 2013’, Big Fish Little Fish (BFLF) is a family friendly event set up by former Home Office Deputy Director of Policing Hannah Saunders, following a string of festival experiences with her four-month-old daughter.

“I found that all the music, the colours, the people and smells – my babies were enjoying as much as I was, and me them.

“That’s when I came up with the concept of a family rave.”

Saunders, a 55-year old mother of two from Brixton, took to her local pub to get Big Fish Little Fish off the ground.

She said: “300 people turned out. It was chaos, but everyone got what it was that we were trying to do. And we never looked back.”

Steadily building relationships with venues across the UK and further afield, BFLF has now had over 350 DJs play at their events, including BICEP & Basement Jaxx.

Next weekend Big Fish Little Fish will welcome to Peckham ‘the original junglist himself Jumpin Jack Frost for some bone rattling bass.’

A kaleidoscopic sea of colour, balloons, bubbles and foam, Big Fish Little Fish events are unmistakable with a fully stocked bar for raving parents, and a play-doh table for the nippers.

Unshackled from the difficulties of family life, these events provide a space for parents and children to party on the same dance floor to the same music.

“It always seems to find a really receptive audience of fun loving families, and seeing people dancing with their young children never stops being anything other than absolutely brilliant”, says Saunders.  

“Toddlers bouncing to drum and bass never gets old.”

“There’s a sense of togetherness, community and support for families with young children, when often they’re knackered. It’s a bit of a lifesaver for some people.”

Growing ever more popular, Big Fish Little Fish parties tend to sell out very quickly in London.

The next BFLF rave at the Fox & Firkin in Lewisham is set to be on 18th May.

Saunders sees the sky as the limit for her family-friendly raves.

Residency in Fabric? Tick. Set at Glastonbury? Tick. Events in Los Angeles? Tick. 

With such a willing cross-generational audience, it’s easy to see Big Fish Little Fish going from strength to strength, as a BFLF regular says: “This actually makes it worthwhile becoming a parent.”