I was first introduced to the concept of off-the-grid parties at the annual Dark Mountain Festival, which held an off-the-grid club night which has become a real hit for festival goers. Inspired by this, I've been organizing a BYOB (Bring Your Own Battery) Party every summer in the hunting cabin owned by my wife's family in western Pennsylvania. The mains are switched off for the day, and everybody is charged with bringing their own power to contribute to the energy potluck that will keep the evening going.
This can take many forms. Some bring a box of AA batteries that have been juiced up with solar battery chargers for use in A/V equipment or lanterns. Others bring larger portable power stores from larger panels or home wind turbines. The challenge is to see how long we can have the music and lights going before we have to light the fire and candles, stash the MP3 players, and get out the musical instruments. Even when this happens it's still loads of fun, anyway. So it's a win-win situation I suppose. This has become an event a lot of our friends look forward to. It combines both sustainable energy awareness and a good old fashioned house party. What more could you want?
(Note: The Dark Mountain Festival actually exists. This year marks its maiden voyage, May 28-30 in Llangollen, Wales. It has the potential to become Britain's Burning Man! Check out the website for info and tickets at
http://www.eventelephant.com/uncivilisation or the Dark Mountain Project itself at
http://www.dark-mountain.net/ ).
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