When Sven Väth was 16, he took a life-changing trip to Ibiza. He visited open-air clubs like Ku, Pacha and Glories, practically begging the bouncers to let him in. Under the stars at Amnesia, he saw Alfredo, back then a god, play pop, rock and reggae to a packed Terrace. When Väth returned home to Germany, he told his mother he wanted to be a DJ.

It's incredible to think that this wide-eyed teenager would one day run Amnesia's flagship party, Cocoon, becoming the club's best-known DJ along the way. Now in its 20th year, the techno night has arguably done more to change the sound of Ibiza than any other. It revolutionised afterparty culture and boosted the careers of talented young DJs such as Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Richie Hawtin, Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos, transforming them into superstars. Without Cocoon, dance music might look completely different today.

But it's about more than just DJs. At the very heart of Cocoon are los Cocooneros, the party's diehard fanatics for whom Monday has long been their favourite day of the week. Many discovered raving on its dance floors. Some met best friends and future business partners. Others found the loves of their lives. All of them, unequivocally, adore Cocoon. We spoke to seven Cocooneros to uncover some of their most-treasured memories.

Name: Patrick Peiki
Nationality: German
Current occupation: Sabbatical
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: 1999
Favourite Cocoon resident: Sven Väth

It's so hard to mention one favorite moment from 20 years. In 1999, Sven [Väth] did some trials in Amnesia with four Cocoon-branded events to test the waters for techno music. The trials were successful right away so there was no question about whether to start it the following season. At that point, Cocoon was already successful with a couple of festivals and parties across Germany and Europe, but Ibiza was a huge step for Sven and the brand. You have to imagine that the whole island was uniform in sound. It was all dominated by UK promoters and cheesy boring music. This was Cocoon's chance.

When they took over Mondays at Amnesia, everyone was saying, "Really? On a Monday? That won't work because Manumission controls Mondays with their huge promotion and massive crowd at Privilege." The good thing was that the sound was totally different, as was the crowd. No German would ever go to Manumission because the German electronic scene at that time was fully dedicated to techno.

German travel agencies began providing affordable all-in-one packages, which included hotel, flights, transfers, breakfast and even dinner for three weeks for under 1000 Deutsche Marks (roughly €500). Cocoon marketed itself to a massive base of German techno lovers who partied like there was no tomorrow. This attracted many other people on holiday or residents on the island who wanted to taste the spirit of Cocoon and German techno party culture.

The first decade of Cocoon was incredible and the island was still old-school in terms of pricing, beaches and chilled people. Cocoon was a paradise for all ravers on the island who loved techno. After a while, Cocoon, tired of collaborating with other outfits, began cultivating its own afterhours culture. Almost every week there was a party at the beach, in off-piste locations or even nice villas. Such a strong community built up over the years. Many people from different countries became frequent guests and Cocoon became known all over the world.

Name: Michael "Stivi" Stivanello
Nationality: Swiss
Current occupation: Ibiza Spotlight's nightlife manager
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: July 2004
Favourite Cocoon resident: Sven Väth

It was the closing party of Cocoon—2015 to be exact. Early morning hours on the Terrace, dawn breaking and the first bit of daylight streaming in. Sven in fantastic form, the dance floor perfectly busy. Our group of friends (most of them longtime Cocoon regulars) were all in high spirits and having a great time. Sven did his usual toilet roll thing, but a friend of mine had a better idea shortly after that. He gave us a sign to follow him and he was off to the podium located in the middle of the Terrace. "You guys stay on the dance floor," he said, and before we knew it, he was up on the podium. Three, two, one and he took a leap, us below holding him, for a crowdsurf. My friend in full superman position. Like that we crossed the whole Terrace while cheers erupted and more people came to help. The crowdsurf ended at the DJ booth where Sven, who'd also taken notice of the action, was already expecting him, high-fived him at arrival and obviously by then the entire Terrace was cheering massively. Just a bit of innocent fun—which I think is great, often clubbing is taken far too seriously! And while Cocoon are very serious about their music and ideology, they always love a bit of fun as well.

Name: Anna Zanapa
Nationality: Italian
Current occupation: Receptionist at a five-star hotel
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: 2002
Favourite Cocoon resident: Sven Väth

I'd been at Cocoon one night with some friends. It was a wonderful party full of moments. Papa Sven had been on the decks. After, they told us there was an afterparty at the beach, so we went home to rest a little and change, before heading back out. The entrance to the party was incredible, a dusty path roughly 2km long already dotted with lots of other ravers. There were cars parked everywhere, which told us the party was going to be good.

When we got there, the beach was full of parasols and sarongs, and there at the bar was Sven, DJing with people all around him on the sand. We climbed to a higher point to get a proper view of the amazing display. There was nothing else to do but smile. I stayed there for hours dancing, I didn't want to leave. It was a unique experience, very Ibiza. I loved it! I remember some of the DJs dancing with us, Richie Hawtin, for example. At one point, Sven played "Easy Lee" by Ricardo Villalobos. We all lost it.

Name: Max Hagenbach
Nationality: British
Current occupation: Event producer / Founder of Come Bye Festival
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: July 10th, 2006 (It was my first-ever time clubbing—I was 16.)
Favourite Cocoon resident: Ricardo Villalobos

I got into electronic music around 2005/6, when I was 15 or 16. Someone said Ibiza was the place to go clubbing, so myself and a group of friends jumped on a plane. It ended up being around 16 or 17 of us. I had to talk to one of the parents to convince them to let their 14-year-old son come. It was all very mad because there were no parents with us. We flew out, landed on Monday night, didn't know anything about anything. We went to Ibiza Town, hit up some bars, and asked, "Where's the place to go?" Everyone said Cocoon, which I'd never heard of. Maybe I knew Amnesia because of Kevin & Perry Go Large, but I'm not sure.

We didn't really know what we were doing so we just bought tickets and went down. That night happened to be Sven Väth, Ricardo Villalobos and Richie Hawtin. Never heard of any of them. And we just went absolutely mental. All us guys were in massive shirts, all the girls had so much makeup. We were all 16, some of us were 15 or 14, all of us got in. None of us got ID'ed, which is insane. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. The size of the place. The music—crazy, bleepy, glitchy minimal. I'd never heard anything like it.

It was packed, so packed you could barely put your arm out, only up or down. We couldn't really afford to buy drinks, but we were so high from the experience that we danced until 6 AM non-stop. Everyone was so friendly—it was only the year after, when we went back to Carl Cox's party, that we realised everyone was high. I just remember looking up at the booth idolising the DJs. That's when I fell in love with DJing and electronic music, and now I've been DJing since I was 18. I remember thinking, "This is it." Some people get into this kind of music through electro or drum & bass, but I went straight in the deep end and never looked back. We went back to Ibiza for ten years and always went to Cocoon. I remember going round at 8 AM after the parties and grabbing posters of my favourite nights.

Name: María S.
Nationality: Spanish
Current occupation: Marketing at Ibiza Spotlight
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: June 2002
Favourite Cocoon resident: Sven Väth

Me and a group of friends went to Amnesia to enjoy a wonderful night at Cocoon. That night wasn't crowded but Sven [Väth] was awesome. We were pretty close to him, dancing and enjoying his amazing set and he could see us doing so. At the end of the night, when we were already outside, close to the VIP entry of Amnesia, laughing, remembering what an awesome night we'd had, suddenly somebody approached us… It was Sven Väth himself! He thanked us for our mood and support. Wow! That was definitely a moment I'll never forget.

Name: Nick Ratcliffe (Nicky Tickets)
Nationality: British
Current occupation: Artist Management
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: September 20th, 2010—Party Animals with Richie Hawtin, Hobo, Marco Carola and Barem.
Favourite Cocoon resident: Sven, Marco, Richie and Dice have all been up there at one point or another, but for energy and unpredictability, it's Ricardo every time.

I was 18 and I'd just finished my A-levels, so it was a really long summer. I was working in a bar and I decided to fly out to Ibiza last minute on the Sunday morning after a night shift. I knew two people from my school who were out there doing a season. This was September, 2010. I flew to Ibiza, landed, stayed with these two friends and went out on the Sunday night to Pacha, which was Vagabundos. And then on the Monday it was my now-good friend Alice's birthday. I met her for the first time, and all of her friends, who would later go on to become my closest friends. We went for dinner and the plan was to go to Cocoon. I'd never heard of Cocoon and I'd only heard of Amnesia because of Cream. I didn't know any of the DJs on the lineup. Or ever heard of the music. Or ever been to any techno event. I was listening to David Guetta and other commercial sounds up until then.

I remember being really nervous because I'd been given someone else's NIE, which is a legal document in Spain that you need to work. Back then, Cocoon allowed anyone with an NIE to get in at a discount. Getting in was such a relief—the discount was €20. Richie Hawtin was playing in the main room with Hobo, but we went straight onto the Terrace. Walking in the emotion really hit me. It's quite hard to describe. I'd only been to a small regional nightclub before this trip. The music was loud and pumping and it was already full. That year they had these jellyfish hanging from the ceiling, which were wobbling about. The lights were amazing, intense smoke, the ice cannon was going off. It was just incredible. I was ushered by the crew to the podium in the middle of the dance floor, which was where they'd been congregating every week. Instantly, we got into the party, and it was then that I had my first pill, my first Green Rockstar. I took a half, and I remember jumping onto the podium and having this euphoric come-up. Marco Carola had come on, and these were the days when he used to kill it on the Terrace. It was just rolling, rolling. Tech house but really groovy. Not a lot of vocals. I just remember a new sensation of happiness that I'd never felt before. Going through school, college, never really knowing that this was what I'd fall in love with. I knew I had an attraction to nightlife culture but I'd never really connected it to the music until that point.

We stayed on the podium for nearly the whole night. It was pretty much perfect. I remember it becoming light. It was September, so the sun would've come up around 7:30 AM. And we were in there until around 9 AM. It was still pumping, still packed. I don't think we stayed until the very end, which became a ritual later on in my relationship with Cocoon. The only reason we actually left was because a friend of mine had planned an afterparty, but I would've happily stayed for another day. In that moment I realised that this was where I wanted to be and this was what I wanted to do. It allowed me to find a new kind of passion that was always in me, but I had never unlocked. I ended up not going to university because of it. My entire life plan changed.

Name: Alexis T.
Nationality: Spanish
Current occupation: Assistant at Grade Management.
Date of first Cocoon Ibiza party: 2005
Favourite Cocoon resident: Sven Väth

My first time was in 2005, I was celebrating my birthday. Loco Dice was playing, if I remember rightly. For the next few years I went once or twice a summer, and then in 2010, I moved to Ibiza. From 2010 until 2017, I haven't missed many Cocoons. Maybe one or two. First as a raver and then I started working for them doing promo. I have many good memories when they use to close at midday. Sven was playing long sets, it was really magical. When they introduced the early curfew, it killed the vibe a bit.

I have many, many memories with my friends. We used to be like 15-20 people, all on the dance floor. So good. We would meet there every Monday. All of us workers living in Ibiza. Everyone was working really hard, so Cocoon was our moment to see each other. This was our moment for ourselves. It still happens sometimes. The group was mostly Spanish but everyone was welcome. Then when I met Seth [Troxler], who I now work with, I used to bring him to the dance floor and he fell in love with us. Him and many DJs used to come every Monday to hang out with us. The Martinez Brothers. Lots more.

It was our weekly meeting, a workers' meeting, a really local party. Lots of workers, lots of Ibiza people. Cocoon was for us, which lent it a special atmosphere. There was a workers' pass that got you in for free. Cocoon always believed in us.