New Delhi: As clubs, bars, concerts, and other social spaces grow, they are encouraging attendees to either put away or completely lock their phones. Screen-free gatherings are the latest trend buzzing through the United States.
According to Eventbrite, an event hosting platform, phone-free experiences have increased by more than 500 per cent globally between 2024 and 2025. A recent report by Vox cited phone-free concerts by musicians Phoebe Bridgers and Harry Styles, and stand-up shows by comedians John Mulaney and Bill Burr as leading examples of the trend.
The trend has further extended to camera-free clubbing experiences from Los Angeles to Miami. Bars and restaurants in the cities of North Carolina and Texas have prohibited phone and camera use too, joining San Francisco and Philadelphia that have long had the rule.
The shift comes amid a broader exhaustion with constant connectivity. More than half of US adults say they use their smartphones too much, according to a 2022 Gallup survey. Researchers suggest that excessive phone use has been linked to poor sleep and depression, while even the mere presence of a device can reduce cognitive capacity. The Vox report said that many people, including Gen Z, who grew up with smartphones, express nostalgia for the days before everyone was permanently plugged in.
At a queer funk dance party called ‘Who’s Dancing?’ in New York’s East Village, 23-year-old Richie Bell tested the concept. Security taped over his phone’s cameras rather than confiscating the device. Without the ability to scroll, he found himself mingling freely with other solo attendees.
“You can’t scroll Reels because, think about it, on iPhones anyway, if they’re taping the front camera, that’s also the speaker area,” Bell told Vox. He described the night as far more conducive to dancing and conversation than typical outings, noting it was easier to approach strangers when no one was hunched over a screen.
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‘Reclaiming culture’
The party’s organiser, funk and soul artist X&ND, created the events after noticing that clubgoers often filmed rather than danced.
“The second that anybody starts dancing in a club where there’s meant to be dancing, people pull out their phone,” X&ND said. “They’re getting surveilled, they’re getting essentially exploited for content and being put in a position where they’re on display for people that they didn’t necessarily want to be on display for.”
The phone-free format, X&ND added, reclaims culture and self-expression.
“Influencers aren’t able to post anything,” he said. “Different companies aren’t posting anything about our parties because we don’t give them the material to. I think it’s the culture taking the culture back.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Jo Vee sought similar freedom from the fear of going viral.
“There’s nothing more terrifying than thinking that you’re going to a party just to have fun, and then you wake up the next morning and there’s a video of you that has 10 million views that you had no idea about, and now you’re like a GIF reaction on the internet,” Vee said.
Research backs the appeal of these breaks. Kostadin Kushlev, an associate professor at Georgetown University, found that phone use during social interactions undermines enjoyment.
“It’s not so much [that] the phone is making us feel unhappy,” Kushlev told Vox. “It’s more like I could be happier if I was not using a phone.” His work also shows that reducing phone use, even briefly, can improve attention and reduce overstimulation.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)