Bumble BFF Hive

Bumble, the woman first social networking app that empowers women to make the first move in dating, friendship and professional networking, will be opening the doors to the Bumble BFF Hive at Carousel in Albert Park, Melbourne, on Saturday 3 August from 10am - 8pm. This will be the first time that an official Bumble Hive has opened in Australia, and is in celebration of International Friendship Day happening next week.

The one day event will be a celebration of friendship, with Bumble users invited to participate in a range of free activities including a pilates class hosted by Sara Colquhoun from Ki Movement Pilates, tarot card reading sessions, essential oils classes, a braid bar from Joey Scandizzo Salon, Kings Domain barber service, personalised jumper making, two player arcade games, a piercing bar and cocktails from Lillet.

There will also be panel sessions hosted by Michelle Andrews from Shameless Media with guests including Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith from Keep It Cleaner, Lucy Jackson and Niki Westcott from We The Wild Ones and Jaggar and Stone, and Manny Barbas and James Hachem from Alya Skin, while renowned Melbourne DJ Khanh Ong will get the party started in the afternoon.

The entire experience will be Instagrammable, with an interactive BFF quiz, a Bumble BFF Type Room where users can write letters to their friends, and a custom made four poster bed for the ultimate "sleepover" themed photo moment. Brands including The Daily Edited, Foreo, Soda Shades and ABrand will also activate at the event.

Michelle Battersby, Bumble Associate Marketing Director APAC, said of the campaign: "We are so excited to be bringing a Bumble Hive experience to Melbourne, with a particular focus on our BFF mode. We know how critical friendships are to living a happy and healthy life, so we have designed every element of the event to be a real life embodiment of our service - a safe space for people to make authentic connections, and above all have fun!"

The goal of the Bumble BFF Hive is to show that it is healthy and necessary to form new friendships throughout life, and to support women in finding new ways to do so. The concept was developed off the back of new research commissioned for Bumble by YouGov Galaxy research which found that three-quarters (73%) of Australians aged 18-45 years regularly experience feelings of loneliness.

The study also found that six in ten (61%) Australians feel that their friendship groups are becoming smaller as they grow older, whilst 22% feel lonelier now than they did when they were younger.

This disconnected state is exacerbated by the need to "keep up with the Joneses" - a quarter (24%) of survey respondents said they felt a constant pressure to maintain a busy social life, despite often feeling lonely.

Since its launch, Bumble has amassed over 65 million registered users in more than 150 countries. As one of the fastest growing social platforms, this has resulted in over 1 billion women-led first moves and over 4 billion messages sent worldwide.

Bumble is the first app of its kind to bring dating, friend-finding, and career-building to a single platform via Bumble Date, Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz. All three Bumble verticals are rooted in empowering connections, respectful conversations and meaningful interactions. Bumble is free and available to download in the App Store and Google Play.

The Bumble BFF Hive will be open from 11am – 8pm on Saturday 3rd August at Carousel, Alfred Park.
Attendees must show their Bumble, Bumble BFF or Bumble Bizz profile on arrival to enter.
Bumble users around the country can win an all expenses paid trip to attend the BFF Hive in Melbourne by matching with the BFF Hive profile in Bumble from 25th - 30th July.