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SNAP!, the monthly ’90s and ’00s dance party at Holocene, is turning 18 years old. And even though she’s a legal adult, that doesn’t mean the nostalgia fest is growing up. Staying stuck in time is the whole point.
SNAP! will celebrate its 18th year in Portland with a ’90s versus ’00s neon beach rave at the club on Friday, July 25. When promoter Coco Madrid started SNAP! in 2007, she definitely didn’t think she’d still be, essentially, reenacting her middle school dances every last Friday at Holocene in 2025.
“It’s the longest job I’ve ever had and I love it,” Madrid says. “Sometimes I do get tired but then when I get there and I see everybody and that I’m a hedonist enabler and holding space for everyone to have fun, I remember why it’s worth it.”
SNAP!’s outlasted Madrid’s other prominent parties, Cake and Booty Basement, and has expanded to Seattle and Denver. If there is a secret sauce to SNAP!’s longevity, it might be Madrid’s ability to pivot in her marketing to reach partygoers. In the beginning, she would flyer the whole city and buy print ads. Now, she does direct targeting on social media, using the expertise she’s built from her daytime career at a digital media-buying agency.
Some things remain constant: the crowd will still turn up for “Pony” by Ginuwine and “Sandstorm” by Darude. They will scream-sing “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers. But the DJ absolutely cannot play re-edits, or remixes.
“I had to ban re-edits because the kids were complaining that we weren’t playing the actual song,” Madrid says. “They know the songs and they’re pissed we’re not playing the authentic version from TikTok.”
SEE IT: SNAP! Y2K Neon Beach Rave at Holocene, 1401 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 9 pm-2 am Friday, July 25. $12. 21+.
