Dear Pluto Speed Dating Lands In Melbourne
If you're single, you'd best get ready to mingle.
If there's one event in Sydney that's turned speed dating into a fun, no-pressure affair that doesn't even feel like dating, it's Dear Pluto. And, now, you lucky, lucky Melbournians, it's coming your way. So, if you're single, you'd best get ready to mingle.
"The atmosphere is super-casual," said Emma Daniels, founder of Dear Pluto. "There's a real focus on having a fun night – having a few drinks and talking to a bunch of people you've never met before."
One of Daniels' tricks is the use of unconventional venues – from Dear Pluto's Sydney headquarters, which is a former coach house, to warehouses, rooftops and old theatres. In Melbourne, the host will be One Thousand Pound Bend in Little Lonsdale Street, which Daniels describes as her "dream speed dating venue".
"It's down a lane way, with a big painted frontage and huge industrial doors. There's a café, which opens into a warehouse space with skylights and a bar, and out the back is a little old chapel with a disco ball."
There'll be two speed dating events there – the first, on Wednesday 5 October, will be for straight singles and the second, on Thursday 6 October, will be for LGBTQI. Dear Pluto's crowd is usually made up of young creatives, aged between 20 and 35.
"There's a half-hour arrival window, then I explain how it all works, which doesn't take very long," Daniels said. "Then, everyone sits down and you have ten dates, each of four minutes."
After that, you take a 15-minute break, which gives you a chance to hit the bar or get some fresh air, before going in for a second round of dating. "Afterwards, we encourage people to stick around and listen to the DJ. If we're in a venue where we can't stay, we move onto a nearby bar." Previous DJ guests of Dear Pluto include Future Classic, Shantan Wantan Ichiban and Ariane Halls.
Dear Pluto has been around since 2008. Daniels started out with the hosting of monthly vintage sales in Sydney's Hibernian House and has since expanded to makers' markets, workshops, exhibitions and talks, in addition to speed dating. The aim is to "promote a slower way of living, making thoughtful purchases and ditching the swipe, whilst keeping everything we do accessible, novel and, most importantly, fun."
Dear Pluto pops up in Melbourne from October 5. For more information, visit their website.
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