FirstMove presents

SoulFire

We build the room.
You turn up on your own.

Small events for meeting people properly. A brunch, a listening session, a long table, a dinner for two. Every one capped tight, every one built for the person who booked a single seat.

The scale

The fire gets hotter
as the room gets smaller.

Four heats. Pick by how exposed you want to be, not by what is in your calendar. Twenty four people over brunch is a different kind of brave from two people over dinner.

  1. Heat 1 of 4

    Ember

    Daylight, drop in

    The lowest-stakes room we run. Turn up on your own, talk to whoever is nearest, leave with three names. Nobody will notice if you slip out early.

    • Brunch
    • Coffee and pastries
    • Sunday walk
    • Gallery hour
    Seats
    Up to 24
    Runs
    90 minutes
    Light
    Daylight
  2. Heat 2 of 4

    Kindling

    Something to do with your hands

    There is an activity in the middle of the room, so nobody has to perform small talk. You work out who you actually want to speak to while pretending to concentrate.

    • Listening session
    • Board games
    • Life drawing
    • Run club
    Seats
    Up to 18
    Runs
    2 hours
    Light
    Early evening
  3. Heat 3 of 4

    Blaze

    The long table

    One table, one conversation, no escape route. You are seated next to people you did not choose, and by the second course that stops mattering. This is the one people come back for.

    • Supper club
    • Seated dinner
    • Wine and small plates
    Seats
    12 to 16
    Runs
    3 hours
    Light
    Evening
  4. Heat 4 of 4

    Blue

    Two seats

    The hottest part of a flame is the small blue centre. Two people, paired in the room by the handshake, seated for one dinner. Not a date unless you both decide it is. People have left these with a co-founder, a flatmate, and occasionally something else.

    • Paired dinner
    • The long lunch for two
    Seats
    2
    Runs
    2 hours
    Light
    Evening

Every heat

The format changes.
These do not.

Come on your own

Most people do. Every format is built for the person who booked one seat, not for the group of four who already know each other.

Nobody is networking at you

No badges, no pitches, no exchanging LinkedIn. If someone starts, the room tends to sort it out.

The handshake does the introducing

Knock, Challenge, Connect. The same consent-first protocol as everywhere else on FirstMove, so nothing reaches anyone who has not opted in.

It ends when it ends

The VibeZone closes with the room. Profiles and chats go with it. What you leave with is whatever you actually built at the table.

Small on purpose

Every format is capped. A room you can cross in ten steps is a room where you will speak to someone.

How it goes

Four things happen.
You only do two of them.

  1. 01

    Claim a seat

    Formats go up in the app and on this page. Seats are capped and they go, so booking is the whole commitment.

  2. 02

    Turn up alone

    Genuinely. Bringing a friend gives you somewhere to hide, and hiding is the one thing that stops these working.

  3. 03

    The room switches on

    A VibeZone activates when you arrive. Ephemeral profile up, handshake live, everyone in the room on the same footing.

  4. 04

    Walk out with it

    The room closes and takes the profiles with it. Anyone you want to keep, you swap details with properly, like a person.

Where

A room only works
if you can walk to it.

Every city runs its own formats and its own calendar. Pick yours.

Running now

London

Where SoulFire started. Every heat runs here, most weeks.

SoulFire London
Not your city

Somewhere else

Cities open when enough people in them are ready to fill a table. Get the app and tell us where you are.

Put your city forward

Next

Nothing on sale this minute.

Formats are announced in the app first, and small rooms fill in hours rather than weeks. Get FirstMove and you will see the next one before this page does.

Before you book a seat.

Tap a question to expand.

Is SoulFire a dating event?

No. SoulFire is a connection programme, and most formats have nothing romantic about them at all. Even the paired dinner is framed as two people at a table rather than a date. People come to meet collaborators, find friends in a new city, or just spend an evening somewhere that is not their flat.

How is a SoulFire different from a VibeZone?

A VibeZone is the social layer FirstMove switches on inside a partner venue, festival or campus. SoulFire is FirstMove hosting: we choose the format, pick the room, cap the seats and run the night. Every SoulFire has a VibeZone inside it, but not every VibeZone is a SoulFire.

Do I have to bring someone?

No, and we would rather you did not. Every format is designed around people arriving on their own, which is why the seats are capped and the rooms are small.

What does it cost?

It depends on the format. A daylight brunch and a seated dinner are not the same thing to put on, so each listing carries its own price. Check the format you are looking at in the app.

Which cities do you run in?

Each city has its own page with what is running there. We pick venues for the room rather than the name, and a new city opens once the community in it is big enough to fill a table properly.

I am not good at this. Will I be the odd one out?

Everyone in the room booked a seat on their own to meet strangers, so you are the median attendee rather than the odd one out. Start at Ember if you would rather have daylight and an easy exit.

Can my venue host a SoulFire?

Yes. We work with venues on formats that suit the space, and the same partner programme covers organisers, venues and promoters. Start on the partners page and tell us about the room.

One seat. Your name on it.

Booking is the hard part. The room handles the rest.

Claim a seat