What are silent discos?

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**Joseph Chance** (1:04)
What are silent discos?
Thanks for asking.
I don't know about you, but I sure miss partying the night away. In the age of social distancing, most of us can barely remember what it's like to be part of a crowd dancing together in a club. While we wait for life to slowly get back to how it was pre-COVID, you might be interested to know about another kind of party. Even your neighbors are unlikely to complain, seeing as there's no noise. We're talking about silent discos, of course.
Wait, you've lost me. How can you have a disco without music? It's actually extremely simple, and the concept is becoming more and more popular in large cities. Party goers dance the night away all the while wearing a wireless headset. These are usually set up to play music selected live by DJs on several different channels. The headsets have LED lights on the side, with different colors according to the listener's choice of DJ. Cool, so you can have several different kinds of music at the same party, can you? That's right. You can take your friends along whether they're into hip-hop, electro or pop music. Three different DJs, three different vibes, all at the same party. Each person just tunes in to their DJ of choice, dancing together all night long and changing channel to their hearts delight. Original idea. Let me guess, it's another American craze, is it? Actually, German DJs Nico Ocursa and Michael Milton are seen as the pioneers of silent discos. They started organizing them in 2002 as part of the Dutch Arts and Culture de Parade festival. But you can find references to silent discos in Japanese sci-fi manga Astro Boy, going back as far as 1967
The Times recently reported how outdoor silent discos were taking off at weddings in the UK. This was due to a ban on indoor dance floors in the country. Even prior to the COVID pandemic, they were popular at music festivals, as it meant dancing could continue after noise curfews.

**SPEAKER_2** (3:06)
Doesn't it get a bit weird with everyone being in their own bubble?

**Joseph Chance** (3:10)
It's certainly strange from the outside, looking in and seeing everyone dancing without hearing any music yourself. You really need to experience a silent disco to understand the attraction. There are a whole host of rental companies which supply specialized equipment for you to bring a silent disco to your own home. They provide headphones which come set up with pre-prepared playlists, or you can connect your own. What better way to have all your friends over without disturbing the neighbours? There you have it.
Now you know what silent discos are.
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