On a rainy day in New York's East Village, hundreds gather for 'Luddite Recreations', a festival celebrating tech resistance. A giant papier-mâché face of a woman, adorned with curtains doubling as a stage, serves as the backdrop for performances and workshops aimed at getting people off their phones.

The event, part of the Summer of Ludd, includes talks on flirting offline, mending skills, and even fighting against data centers. Attendees, ranging from young tech critics to East Village veterans, find common ground in eschewing digital consumption.

A 2025 Pew Research study shows that 48% of teens now see social media as negative, up from 32% just two years prior. The festival’s organizers, known only as Gowanus the media puppet, aim to create an event free from Silicon Valley influence, focusing on physical interactions and offline activities.

‘We believe that the event is the medium to enact social change,’ said Gowanus. ‘People can meet up in physical space without Mark Zuckerberg’s eyeballs watching over them.’ The festival overlaps with a Luddite conference at New York University, discussing AI in military contexts, adding a layer of tech critique.

Attendee staoue, a former computer science student turned humanities enthusiast, says: ‘Society is getting faster, and we’re pressured to scroll. What we really might want are new hobbies or languages.’