Save the date for the next Reading Queer Social. On Friday 05 June 2026 we are going to party like it is 1999 (again).
Picture this:
The year is 1999. You've gelled your hair back and/or added at least one sparkly butterfly clip. You've downloaded too many polyphonic ringtones to your Nokia. You are hoping to screw up the courage to ask someone to dance before Semisonic's “Closing Time” plays. You are embarrased because everyone seems to know the words to that Boyz II Men song but no one seems to know what it means.
Reading Queer Social invites you to return to the glorious awkwardness of the late-90s / early-00s school disco: the age of glitter lip gloss, flame shirts, cargo trousers, tiny backpacks, and emotionally devastating pop ballads played immediately after “Thong Song.”
Brace yourself for:
✨ retro flower-power aesthetics
⚡ awkwardness, but the wholesome kind
🔥 suspiciously emotional bangers
or
🌈 the kind of dancing that your younger self would have hoped no one was watching
Whether you were:
🌼 closeted but indie curious
🍄 some version of sporty Spice
🕷 the wallflower goth
🍂 new to eyeliner
🌹 performing every move to “Backstreet's Back”
or
🌸 emotionally formed by Aqua's “Barbie Girl”
…this disco is for you.
💃🕺 Dress code (optional, as always):
Butterfly clips. Velour. Denim. Chunky highlights. Adidas poppers. Faux-fur trim. Tiny sunglasses. Cargo trousers. Glitter. A suspicious amount of body spray. Or simply your comfiest jumper and your best Year 9 energy.
Come as you are … no matter who you are or where you are from … no need to say “oops” when you do it again … just let rhythm be a dancer … and get low low low low (if you still can).