About this Event
Are we suffering from a crisis of connection?
While modern life prioritises predictability, productivity, and digital interaction, sociologist Émile Durkheim spoke of ‘collective effervescence’, the vital human need for shared, physical, and chaotic rituals.
At the next Rebel Book Club MCR ‘Meet the Author’ event, we’re hosting author Daniel Stables to discuss his book, Fiesta: A Journey Through Festivity, and what global celebrations can teach us about solving modern social fragmentation.
Join us where we will be delving into some of the stories from Fiesta:
- Reclaiming physical spaces in a screen mediated world.
- The psychology of "sacred chaos" and why productivity culture is exhausting us.
- Tourism, authenticity, and preserving local heritage without flattening it into aesthetic content.
- Finding common ground across deep cultural and political divides.
If you’re interested in anthropology, community building, and rethinking how we live together in the modern world, you won't want to miss this.
📖 When purchasing a ticket, you can add a copy of Fiesta: A Journey Through Festivity to your order for £11 (plus the booking fee). All books must be collected at the event.
About Daniel Stables:
Daniel is an award-winning travel and culture writer, based in the UK and working across the world for National Geographic, the BBC, and national newspapers. His work sits at the intersection between travel, folklore and anthropology, and his first narrative non-fiction book, Fiesta, a travel book about the festivals of the world, was published by Icon Books in August 2025 to critical acclaim.
He has also authored, co-authored or contributed to more than 30 guidebooks and coffee-table travel books for publishers including Rough Guides and Lonely Planet. He regularly appears as a guest on leading travel podcasts and radio, and speaks at literary festivals and events around the UK.
You can find his work at his website, danielstables.co.uk, on Instagram @DanStabs, and X @DanStables.
Your host for the evening
Omar Latif
Omar is the founder of an AI startup and also pursuing a PhD in Behavioural AI. One big reason Omar joined RBC is to get away from academic literature, gain knowledge in areas outside of his interests and to have engaging conversations with the awesome community.
There is a clear alliance with the philosophy and taste of RBC as Omar has already read 70% of the books from the Rebel Book Club library!
Sarah Irving
Co-host Sarah is a born-and-bred Northerner working in a cat-tech startup (yes, really!), while also creating walks for another start-up. She’s also a cat sitter and should probably find time to rest.
She joined Rebel Book Club after a long search for a non-fiction book group, somewhere she could chat about ideas that broaden her worldview and meet new people. She loves all kinds of non-fiction and is always up for recommendations to add to the ‘to be read’ pile.
About Rebel Book Club
Every month since 2015, we've helped 1000's of curious minds explore a topic, meet, discuss and share learnings & actions. We're meeting monthly in London and four other locations within the UK (Oxford, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh), in Denver and New York (USA), in Sydney & Perth (Australia) and Toronto & Vancouver (Canada) + we have a digital membership for members round the world.
Find out more about Rebel Book Club & RBC Manchester + follow us on Instagram.
Event venue & nearby stays
x+why 100 Embankment, Cathedral Approach, Salford, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.