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Music

Swedish Workers Break It Down On Their Lunch Breaks

We're hereby coining the genre "sandwich house"

While you're busy scarfing down the hastily-nuked leftovers of a week-old Chipotle burrito at your desk, folks in Sweden are busy putting even your some of your best-laid weekend plans to shame.

Lunch Beat is the latest addition to the recent bizarre trend of nightlife/daylife crossover events, but unlike that yoga rave nonsense, this is actually a really great idea.

In an effort to break up the monotony of the average workday, Lunch Beat founder Molly Ränge created an environment where Sweden’s workforce could enjoy a physical cathartic stress release that doesn’t leave demolished printers its wake. Every month, participants ditch their offices, head to the night-turned-dayclub, and let loose to some of the world’s most prominent DJs. One hour later, they trek back to their cubicles, free sandwiches in hand. They’re a little bit sweaty, a little bit winded, and—if Ränge’s mission proves successful—a lot more relaxed.

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But devoid of drugs, alcohol, and patchy-bearded college bros wondering if you've seen their friend "Molly", Lunch Beat is something of an atypical club experience. No one is there to find an incapacitated stranger to unsatisfyingly bump uglies with; rather, hundreds of participants are gleefully uniting for an oasis of escape and expression in the middle of an otherwise stiflingly mundane weekday.

And much like the parties themselves, the Lunch Beat organization hinges on the principals of freedom and community. Anyone can start a Lunch Beat so long as they adhere to the project’s manifesto, and Ränge has even equipped potential party planners with a 3 Steps 2 Start Up guide. But those looking to make a buck should go back to bottle service; staunchly non-profit, the relatively minimal door money LB collects for the event—usually between 6 and 10 Euros ($8-$13 USD) per person—goes right back into its production, covering the cost of venue rentals or provisions. For budget surpluses, Lunch Beat has recently launched the Branch Bank: a foundation used to store money earned through semi-commercial endeavors (like sponsored events) and distribute the funds to new start-up parties.

Since their first party in 2010, Lunch Beat has moved busy bodies in Sweden, Finland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Germany, and the States (America's most notorious party cities: Los Angeles and…Vermont). Are your toes tapping yet? Before you go giving yourself a wicked tummy ache, take a moment to digest and check out Lunch Beat's rules:

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1st rule: If it’s your first lunch at Lunch Beat, you have to dance.

2nd rule: If it’s your second, third, or fourth time lunch at Lunch Beat, you have to dance.

3rd rule: If you are getting too tired to actually dance at Lunch Beat, please have your lunch at some other place.

4th rule: You don’t talk about your job at Lunch Beat.

5th rule: At Lunch Beat, everyone present is your dance partner.

6th rule: Any Lunch Beat is to be no longer than 60 minutes long and set during ”lunch time”.

7th rule: Lunch Beats always serve their guests with a 1 DJ-set and 1 take away meal.

8th rule: Water is always served during a Lunch Beat for free.

9th rule: Lunch Beat is a preferably drug free environment.

10th rule: Lunch Beats can be set up anywhere by anyone as long as they are announced as public events, are non-profit arrangements, and are directed by this manifesto.

@sashahecht