Balcony Bingo: Communities in Ireland, Italy and Spain have found a way to socialise during social distancing. Photo / Supplied, Twitter @MerriganMania, @HelenTellsstories, Laurie Betin
First, it was the Italians singing across their balconies. Now, residents in Spain and Ireland have found a new way to pass the time during lockdown - by playing bingo out their windows.
Videos are doing the rounds on social media of residents in apartment blocks hanging out their windows for a community game of bingo.
In one part of Madrid, balcony bingo is a regular fixture each evening Monday to Friday, starting with music at 6pm to signal residents to get ready for the game.
A woman who organises the bingo games in her building, Cristina Pruenza, told CN Traveler it helps keep them entertained at night.
"It brings us all together to laugh, and to be happy. And it creates an incredible feeling of solidarity."
When someone wins a round, they get to choose the soundtrack for the next night, although it's mostly about the bragging rights.
In Ireland, balcony bingo is also a regular fixture for some Dubliners.
Michael Larkin brought the game to the flats complex in Canon Mooney Gardens in Ringsend, in spite of him never even playing a game of bingo in his life.
He told the Irish Times he played music through a PA system while the bingo cards were distributed, then the game itself lasted two and a half hours.
"It's all just a bit of craic at the end of the day," he said.
As many as 60 residents have taken part in the game, which includes many elderly residents and others with young children. "This is all about helping to connect people and keep them safe," he told the Irish Times.
Now, the local soccer club in Ringsend has decided to contribute a €50 spot prize to each of the three balcony bingo's running in their communities - handed over from a distance.
Ireland's Balcony Bingo now has its own Facebook page, where Larkin has been sharing some of the positive feedback to the community, as well as arranging balcony karaoke.
The story has been featured through a new project #ApartTogether, which aims to collate the different ways around the world people are connecting through the lockdowns.
It's a digital archive and social media campaign sharing acts of kindness and solidarity from quarantine life.
Updated daily, each edition centres around a specific theme, featuring a global conversation and its local renditions by using social media posts, videos, photos, soundbites and other digital assets.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
Telegraph: “A bingo card of disappointments.”