A cafe in Bournemouth is set to host an "immersive 9/11 watch party" on Friday, marking 25 years since the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York on 11 September 2001. Organised by political arts group Verdurin as part of the Adam Curtis Party Conference at the Wild Boscombe Cafe, the event invites guests to surrender their phones and "relive" the raw television coverage and conspiracy theories as they unfolded in real time. The venue has said the screening is "not intended as a celebration or trivialisation" of the attacks, but the event has drawn sharp criticism for its timing and framing.

Christchurch councillor Simon McCormack condemned the event as "deeply concerned", arguing it risks "turning a tragedy into a spectacle" and calling on organisers to reconsider out of respect for victims, survivors and bereaved families. Verdurin curator Pierre d'Alancaisez defended the project as an examination of how live television coverage shaped the 21st century and gave rise to real-time conspiracy narratives, describing it as offering a chance to revisit "hyperreality's fundamental building block". The 9/11 attacks involved 19 al-Qaeda hijackers commandeering four passenger planes, two of which struck the World Trade Centre, one the Pentagon, and one crashing in Pennsylvania.