MOSCOW (Reuters) – The DJ cranks up the volume as he takes a swig of black coffee, the young crowd bobbing their heads to the electronic beat merging with the whirr of a milk frother.
It’s nine o’clock on a Sunday morning, but in this coffeehouse in central Moscow, the party is just getting started.
So-called “coffee raves” – an early-morning take on late-night club raves, dominated not by alcohol and drugs but by cappuccinos and macchiatos – are cropping up all across Russia after taking global capitals like Amsterdam, London and New York by storm.
Many enjoy the chance to socialise with friends in a party-like atmosphere – without the brutal hangovers that result from traditional drug-dominated nightclub culture.
“I think it’s a very cool thing for the community,” says Marina, a music editor.
The event’s co-organiser, Alexander Zhiganov, says he wants the parties to feel as fun as big nights out.
“I want to give people an idea that you can listen to great music, gather without alcohol, without drugs, and so on – in a more familiar atmosphere with coffee, delicious food and friends,” Zhiganov says.
Although the crowd on Sunday skewed younger, people of all ages were in attendance, coffee mugs in hand. Some even brought their young children along.
“I think we need to have events like this every day,” says Alexandra Kovalski, a restaurant manager, who describes herself as “not a night party animal at all.”
“I’ll be happy to dance in the morning, drink delicious coffee and go somewhere else in a great mood.”
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Writing by Lucy Papachristou in London; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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