Making friends by taking a class on something

I met some nice gals at a cake decorating class. And another set at a cookie decorating class.
If I was just a little older, I would look at all the courses at my city’s senior center. My city has yoga, tai chi, guitar, salsa, tap. I’m sure there’s a ton more.

ETA:  My city has courses not just for senior citizens - but any adults. They also have art courses, creating a web site, and reasonable single-day travel excursions to various shows and events (like musical, or a local festival). 

I take a French class here. It’s twice a week for three hours each class. Our prof is great about giving us a nice break mid class—usually about 20 minutes. We all chat with each other and it’s a nice way to get to know people. Many of my classmates were in last years class as well, so I’ve known them for 2 years.

We tend to group into two groups—the English and Italian speakers. Although we now know enough French so that we can speak conversational French, so those lines are blurring. We’ve gone to lunch after class and have had study groups before exams. Now that my kids are grown and I’m not meeting other moms at school or activities, it’s hard to meet new people!

I've made friends in my knitting group. I didn't take a class although classes are available but just started going to the weekly knitting group. She has two official ones at the local shop - one daytime and one evening. The evening group includes younger women but the daytime group suited my schedule the best.

I also visited a knitting group at a shop in another town. There were some younger people there in the evening group but I just preferred the other shop. So don't be discouraged if you try one group and they aren't a fit for you. Check out your local knitting shops for opportunities. I've loved getting to know these women.

I met a bunch of new friends about ten years ago when I started taking classes at the local quilt shop. Actually, I taught quite a few of those classes myself. We have all continued our friendships even to the point when the quilt shop closed for about 18 months we started meeting once a month at a local restaurant in the banquet room for lunch. Even after the quilt shop opened back up, we continued to meet. I also started a friends class once a week when we would bring our handwork and hang out at my house. We would bring snacks and stop mid afternoon, sit around my table and share. There were never more than five or six of us that met, but it was a good way to stay in touch on a weekly basis. When husband was diagnosed with cancer, life just got too complicated so we started skipping and eventually stopped the meet ups in my home. We still met once a month for lunch, about 12 of us at a restaurant. Of course, with us being in Texas and covid numbers being so high around here, we are not meeting anymore when the numbers get too high.

Its a great way to keep friends and make new friends. Anyone can bring friends to the lunch and once in a while we get someone new joining us.

our local neighbourhood FB page has a ladies walking group. she lists the starting location and that she wears a red coat. all are welcome. i haven't done it (winter - canada, i prefer to drive to hike outside the city) but thought it was a great idea.

just pick something you like. then whether you meet people or not, it is something that interests you.

sorry, this made me laugh....i thought, well she said she wanted something not alcohol related....