Immersive '9/11 watch party' is planned in Bournemouth with guests invited to 'relive' the world's deadliest terror attack

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 20:30 EDT, 8 September 2026 | Updated: 20:33 EDT, 8 September 2026 A cafe in Bournemouth is set to host an immersive '9/11 watch party' with guests invited to 'relive' the world's deadliest terror attack as if it were happening in real time.The event will take place on Friday, marking 25 years since nearly 3,000 people were killed when two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York City on September 11, 2001.Guests have been invited to leave their phones at the door and 'experience again the fear, tears, and paranoia of the live news channel analysis and raw footage of the disaster'.The event, staged by political arts group Verdurin as part of the Adam Curtis Party Conference, will be held at the Wild Boscombe Cafe.Owners of the venue insisted the screening was 'not intended as a celebration or trivialisation' of the attacks.A local councillor criticised the event, warning it risked 'turning a tragedy into a spectacle'.The attacks saw 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijack four commercial passenger planes in the US, including the two which crashed into the Twin Towers.Another plane struck the Pentagon near Washington DC, while a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania, thought to have been targeting the White House or the Capitol Building. A view of the Twin Towers after they were struck by planes flown by Al Qaida terroristsAn online listing described the watch along as the 'most avant-garde event to take place in Bournemouth for many years'.It read: '9/11 Watch Party rebroadcasts the responses of the mainstream media, twinning them with conspiratorial commentators in an installation of overwhelming scale.By the end of the evening, you will have been taken in by the seductive power of conspiracy theories.'If you were there when it happened, you can refresh your memories.'If you were too young, get a feel for what it was like as it happened.' Verdurin's website describes itself as addressing 'urgent cultural, political, and philosophical questions through visual culture'.Its curator Pierre d'Alancaisez has been described as a writer, curator and researcher working with the multiple politics of the arts.He is the resident art critic for the English magazine The Critic. His writing has appeared in outlets such as ArtReview, The Spectator and Compact.Pierre d'Alancaisez said: 'That the live television images of September 11th attacks would define the 21st century was evident even to the news anchors as they narrated the events.'So much so that the archive video reveals them revising the story as it unfolds, creating a true conspiracy in real time.'The anniversary affords an opportunity to review once more the raw television image, our hyperreality's fundamental building block.'Christchurch councillor Simon McCormack said he was 'deeply concerned' by the event. He added: 'According to reports, attendees will surrender their mobile phones before watching the original television news footage, commentary and emerging conspiracy theories unfold again in real time, recreating the experience of that day as an 'immersive event.''Nearly 3,000 people were murdered on 9/11, while countless survivors, emergency workers and bereaved families continue to live with the consequences. This was a real human tragedy—not entertainment, a 'watch party' or an experience to be recreated for an audience.'There are respectful ways to remember the victims, educate people about what happened and examine how the attacks changed the world. But packaging their final moments and the suffering of their families as an immersive event crosses a line and risks turning tragedy into spectacle.'I do not believe this is appropriate for Bournemouth, particularly on such a significant anniversary. I urge the organisers and venue to reconsider out of respect for the victims, survivors and their families.'