The year of 2011 was a quite fantastic year for the Lunch Beat movement; the Stockholm clubs got more and more crowded, the Gothenburg branch establish a strong community and the Malmö branch got back on track.

Further more people in another 6 Swedish cities joined the movement by arranging their own Lunch Beat sessions. As a result, the movement was covered in I dare say every Swedish news paper of dignity, as well as on prime time TV and several public radio shows. When the year was coming to an end, the Lunch Beat initiative was rewarded for creative innovation and featured in Sweden’s no.1 public TV channel’s annual summary of noteworthy news during the past 12 months. The word ”Lunch disco” was also officially included in the Swedish language.

That Swedes like to dance on lunch time here by could be stated as a fact, but when browsing through my inbox lately, I am more than happy to be able to summarize the list of international Lunch Beat branches planned for start-up as follows;

• US – Los Angeles
• US – Vermont
• Germany – Berlin
• Germany – Hamburg
• Germany – Osnabrück
• Germany – Munich
• Denmark – Copenhagen
• Austria – Vienna
• Netherlands – Amsterdam
• Portugal – Porto
• Finland – Helsinki
• Finland – Tampere
• Finland – Jyväskylä
• Sweden – Båstad
• Sweden – Lund
• Sweden – Umeå
• Sweden – Ulricehamn

So why am I listing this? Of course because taking new cities with storm takes an army of glowing contributors, and I thought you might be one of them. If you would be interested in joining the Lunch Beat tribe of international initiators, do not hesitate get in touch and I’ll be happy to connect you with your local lunch start up.

With humble love and hopes for a magic year / Molly

Recently no less than three Lunch Beat branches has been established in the Finnish cities Helsinki, Tampere and Jyväskylä. As a delightful add-on, a special Lunch Beat session also will be held on The World Design Capital.

I’ve got a hold on Simo who is taking the Helsinki initiative – a researcher and writer by profession and a dancer and city-lover by hobby. He works at Demos Helsinki, an independent think-and-do-tank focusing on sustainable lifestyles, participation, well-being, and better urban futures.

You say it was quite simple to take the initiative – how come?

Yes, it was super easy! There’s so many spaces in every city, just take your pick. I chose my own office for the first one, so I only had to convince my co-workers. Luckily they’re always up for anything. I asked around for DJ’s and my friend Tommi Partanen a.k.a. DJ Ais-T from the urban media house Basso instantly said Yes. A live set requires good equipment; we rented those with a good deal.

How where you solving the food challenge?

It’s lunchtime so food is obviously super important, and also a good way to give a statement. Lunch Beat Helsinki focuses on climate-friendly food – meaning seasonal ingredients, mainly vegetarian with non-cultivated, freshwater fish. Our friends at the occasional pop up restaurant Le Frogwanted to take on the challenge.

What are your best advice for other people interested in starting Lunch Beat in their cities?

If you’re thinking about it, just do it. Don’t wait for someone to do something fun in your city – it’s everyone’s responsibility and privilege. I’m also involved in Restaurant Day, where we encourage anyone to open a restaurant for a day. There’s always time for lunchtime discos and pop up restaurants, they are what good cities are made of.

In the end of each year, Språkrådet – the Sweden’s official organ for language development and treatment – looks back on the past year analyzing phenomena’s, trends and movements and the use of language that these social interactions has resulted in. Each year the institute receives between 1000-2000 proposals, but a big part of them are shown to be out of date or uninteresting. But when last years list of new words officially included in the Swedish language was published recently, ”Lunch disco” is one of the chosen words among the new golden glossary. I got a hold on Birgitta Lindgren who is working with the selection process;

“The word lunch disco where noted by one of our persons engaged to read the newspapers everyday and note words that seems to be new. When we researched it, a few mentions where noted in 2003, but something apparently happened in 2011 and that’s why the word now has been added to our language with the official definition “disco in the middle of the day”.

If the word has a actual future is of course up to us using and developing our language day by day, but we promise to do our best to make it worth repeating.

With love /Molly

Lunch Beat founder Molly Ränge, is placed no.2 on Shortcuts’ list of 100 innovators who have made Sweden a more colourful place to live during 2011. The aim of the list, is to inspire other Swedes to dare to think outside the regular business boxes, as well as reward people who have the potential to play an important role in future development by making real change.

On place no.1 Johanna Koljonen, also awarded with the honorable journalist prize Stora Journalistpriset, is rewarded for her fantastic campaign #Prataomdet, (Talk about it) encouraging people to share negative sexual experiences on Twitter. Daniel Mendoza (no.3) light up our daily feed with his Good News Magazine, and Iman Aldebe (no.19) inspires with her fashionable veil designs.

Molly is really happy for the reward, but also a little bit surprised;

“I think it is amazing that Lunch Beat is placed in the very top. But it also tells something quite obvious about how “revolutionary” we read this kind of initiative. And in one sense it is a bit sad; I mean, why is dancing in daytime THAT unthinkable?”.

Molly, who plays a coaching role in relation to local as well as international branches wanting to start Lunch Beat initiatives in their towns, also has been the head prouder of the Lunch Beat Stockholm parties. With start in January she is now about to work a couple of months from India;

“I will still take care of the community management, the website and support all initiators. The Stockholm parties will be produced by a larger network of regulars who all have hearts beating for this movement.  Something I am really happy for! I mean, it is the people coming to Lunch Beat who are the real stars, and I would have wished that Shortcut rewarded the community, not me, for making this real”.

Lunch Beat is growing. Here is a list over all events planed as we know of.

Have a lovely weekend you all!

Lunch Beat Stockholm has celebrated an amazing year growing from a hyper local and friendly fight club, to a ”phenomena” carried out of local entrepreneurs and dance lovers all over Sweden. In December Lunch Beat is planned  in Helsingborg, Stockholm, Gothenburg (at Världskulturmuseet and Matteos Panetteria), Norrköping, Malmö, Skövde and Sundsvall. We try to keep the ”Next events?” page updated, but please let us know if you know about something we don’t.

The last Lunch Beat Stockholm will end a sparkling year with inviting two local girls in mixing a really happy tape for us. They go under the name Sharks and describe them selves as ”music-loving freaks, in a good way”.

What can Lunch Beat Stockholm expect of your session?

- You can expect to have a lot of fun! We want to make you smile on the dance floor and just get lost in a feeling. The music we play can be very flirtatious and fun mixed with very hardcore sounds. When we have fun the dance floor is its best!

Listen to Sharks new release below and even more on Soundcloud is you want to get a feeling of their style.

SHARKS & FUGLY – Wet Cupcake (Original Mix) by SHARKSONHEELS

Thank you for a magic year, let’s write 2012 an even better history! /m

Friends! We are happy to announce that this Tuesdays Lunchbeat in Stockholm, will be followed by an offical afterparty at the Swedish public radio. This means live Dj, dancefloor in the studio and talkshow at the same time. DJ Neil Seaward [Piggly Wiggly] will bring the thing to life and we are allowed to bring 15 guests to the party. If you want to be one of them, just send me an e-mail and I will confirm your place on the guestlist Tuesday at 10.00. The radioshow is called Epstein and is aired on radio P1 15.03-15.45 which means we will meet approximatley at 14.30. I would love to see you join in! /m.