‘You can let your inner freak out!’: inside Pixelate and internet-culture raves

“It’s time to get … crazy!” DJ Compulsive Leia is yelling from the stage as clubbers in cat ears wave LED glow sticks and squeal. Suddenly a familiar sound: Crazy Frog’s version of Axel F, remixed at an even giddier pitch and speed. Tonight Vauxhall Arches is a hyperactive fever dream for Pixelate, a touring rave celebrating the 00s era of “internet cringe”; this cat-themed edition features a giant bobble‑headed Hello Kitty, high‑octane versions of memes, video games and cartoons, and huge screens flashing Club Penguin, Happy Tree Friends and Salad Fingers while cosplay and kandi bracelets fill the floor.

Nostalgia, sometimes for the extremely recent past, binds the crowd along with a total lack of irony. Leia, Pixelate’s 22‑year‑old founder and Crazy Frog‑spinning DJ, says: “I always had a fascination with internet nostalgia, I never really left that era.” She started raving in early 2024, and after a Sonic the Hedgehog‑themed night of happy hardcore, nightcore and donk decided to mount her own event.

pixelate, vauxhall arches, internet nostalgia, internet cringe, crazy frog, axel f, club penguin, salad fingers, sonic, nightcore