Twisted Track Brewpub in Roanoke will host its third annual Speed Dating event Wednesday, offering an alternative to online dating apps for local singles.
The free event, which has led to relationships and friendships in previous years, is capped at 50 participants with registration closing at midnight Tuesday.
Becka Jordan, tap room manager at Twisted Track, said the event provides an opportunity for face-to-face connections.
“I think the idea is to reach out to people who are tired of, you know, online dating and apps. Kind of one of our taglines is it’s catfish-free,” Jordan said. “Actual in-person meeting each other and antiquated idea at this point.”
The event follows a structured format with breaks built in for participants to relax and socialize.
“At the beginning of the event we do a coin toss to see whether ladies or gentlemen will be the parties moving, so whoever gets to stay gets to kind of be around the person they’re next to the whole time,” Jordan said. “It’s kind of fun to see relationships form from that, new friendships.”
Jordan explained that keeping the event free was important to their approach.
“We do it in sections. So you kind of have a break to get a beverage, you know which helps some people feel a little bit more social,” Jordan said. “That’s kind of our strategy with a lot of our events as we want to offer something free to the community. And we can provide the craft beer that we love serving.”
Organizers noted they could use more male participants to keep the gender balance even.
Those interested can register through midnight Tuesday at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-kbSbz9b4PW6-z5aw-nfePpqTGOnlQGKX6uJv4pe0KHDDpg/viewform
