What Is ‘Soft Clubbing’ And Why Are Illinois Gen Z’ers All About It?

A night out looks different from one generation to another.

If you didn't grow up in a larger city, your "night out" as a teen or college kid was probably in someone's garage, a field, or a fast-food parking lot. Maybe you went to a few bars later on. Wild times.

But according to Axios Chicago and Vice, Gen Z is rejecting those.

Soft Clubbing

Gen Z isn't going hard in the paint when it comes to going out. They're practicing soft clubbing, which are things like a DJ set and dance party...at a coffee shop. Or wellness-based activities like yoga, or even 'Thermal Gatherings' like sitting in a sauna. Basically, things that are quieter than a rave. Note that this trend comes along with a rise in popularity for non-alcoholic bevys.

Stats from Gallup show that, in 1981, 70% of adults said they drink alcoholic drinks. Now, that number is down to 54% of adults.

Data from Eventbrite shows that soft clubbing is more of a thing because of several cultural shifts:

• Decentering alcohol/drugs
• Prioritizing less expensive events because of the economy
• Focusing on personal connections without sacrificing personal values or wellness
• Safer socializing

So maybe those of us who are getting too old to stay out late are trendy again? Yay us?

Experts say this is part of the rise of 'sober-curious' gatherings. Which get weird to me when the non-alcoholic 'mocktails' cost just as much as the actual cocktails.

It doesn't take much besides a Google search to find Reddit threads or Facebook recommendation questions to find these kind of events in your area. Several coffee shops in Illinois host things like afternoon speed dating events.