Gen Z are swapping smartphones with a newfound trend called ‘reading raves’, which has taken the internet by storm in western Europe’s touristy Dutch capital, Amsterdam.
With the evolving times, Gen Z—generation that has been at the forefront of every latest digital invention—seems like they’ve burnt out.
The Gen Z are scrambling hard to find analogue activities that led them to find escape in Amsterdam’s buzzing club that offers ‘reading rave’ culture with no phones, WiFi and messy notification cycles.
They just need one thing: digital detox, and that comes in the form of ‘reading rave’ that is blossoming in the Dutch streets.
In the heart of the Dutch city of Amsterdam, there is a cafe called Brecht, which translates into ‘The Offline Club’.
The club provides board games, art books, and a piano across churches, cafes, parks, and restaurants.
The club is becoming the humming place for Gen Z to rediscover the joys of art, writing and other analogue activities that restore the soul.
One such viral video that is making rounds on the internet, which has garnered over 42 million views, features 250 people all without a smartphone in a 400-year-old church in Amsterdam.
It’s becoming the must-go thing nowadays with viral video posts surfacing on social media, offering a complete overhaul from the digital world.
The idea of ‘reading raves’ appears to originate from recent studies that highlight smartphones as a key driver in the global erosion of social connection and community belonging, a dilemma that is hitting Gen Z the hardest.
2026-08-12 14:41:00
