New Delhi: With sunglasses on and a drink in one hand, hundreds of revellers assembled under the sun on a rooftop terrace in Amsterdam for a rave party, but not an ordinary one. It was a ‘Reading Rave’, where book worms put their phones aside for an hour and engage in communal silent reading.
The rooftop terrace of the NEMO Science Museum has been the venue for the ‘Offline Reading Rave’ this summer.
“Bring along your favourite book, magazine or comic, find a spot on the roof and enjoy a relaxing hour reading together in silence. Afterwards, there’ll be plenty of time to chat and meet other readers,” the event description reads on the museum’s website.
The free-for-all event is the brain child of The Offline Club, a Dutch-based company that organises such community events in several cities, mostly across Europe — including Barcelona, Berlin, Bristol, Istanbul, and Bali — to “unplug, relax, and connect with like-minded people”.
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‘Reclaiming yourself’
The rules for the Reading Rave are simple: bring your own book, drinks, snacks, cushion, and sun screen, and then make yourself comfortable around fellow readers on the rooftop. You can also choose to grab a drink or snacks from the museum’s rooftop cafe.
Readers must book their tickets in advance from The Offline Club website. While the entry is free for all, one can make a voluntary donation.
The last such ‘rave’ in Amsterdam was held on 2 August from 11:45 am to 1 pm. “500 people reading together one of the city’s most iconic rooftops, without a phone in sight. On August 2nd, we’re challenging Amsterdam to take a break from scrolling and get together for an offline reading rave overlooking Amsterdam,” read the event’s description on the ticketing platform Luma.
On coming up with the idea of a Reading Rave, Lea Karras, from The Offline Club, told BBC Global Women that “we’re losing a lot of ourselves and a lot of time to technology. And by claiming that back, we get time again to read, to be creative and to talk to strangers.”
“It’s nice to get people together who all love the same thing,” she added.
The next Reading Rave on the rooftop is set to be held on 29 August.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)