What’s behind Asia’s new obsession with cafe parties?
As the region’s nightlife reinvents itself in a post-pandemic world, a new wave of social events – sober and sun-drenched – has emerged
With lattes lifted high, strangers become friends as loud music blares through the cafe-turned-dance-floor. This is the new face of nightlife in Asia – sober, social and safe, taking place in broad daylight. “I never had the chance to immerse myself in club culture until the pandemic ended,” says 21-year-old Aden Low, co-founder of Singapore’s sober event collective Beans & Beats. “By then, my idea of partying wasn’t limited to dark rooms and heavy drinking.”
For many in his generation, whose primary reference for nightlife was live-streamed DJ sets at home, walking into a physical nightclub feels like stepping into unfamiliar territory. Feeling out of sync with traditional nightlife, Low decided to stop waiting for the industry to adapt and instead built his own alternative.
