Life

Here's How #InternationalPillowFightDay Went Down

by Eliza Castile

Remember how much fun pillow fights with your friends were in middle school, right up until your mom caught you guys beating each other over the head with sacks of fluff? So do the founders of International Pillow Fight Day, a.k.a. the international holiday your 11-year-old self never could have imagined even in your wildest dreams. Actually, a lot of people must have fond memories of sleepovers in their youth, because each year, crowds turn out in the thousands on April 4th for a feathery fun time. The holiday began as a way to get people to utilize urban spaces, Mashable reports. According to the International Pillow Fight Day (IPFD) website, it's part of a public space movement that aims to replace “passive, non-social consumption experiences like watching television” with a celebration of the cityscape itself. Luckily for us, someone decided that the best way to accomplish this was to host giant pillow fights in major cities around the world. By the way, when I say around the world, I mean it — the list of participating cities on the IPFD website includes London, U.K.; Pécs, Hungary; Daejeon, South Korea; Oulu, Finland; Chicago, IL; and many, many more. If you live in a city with more than 100,000 residents, chances are pretty high there was a pillow fight going on nearby.But if you couldn't make it to the pillow fight, whether because you had better things to do (false) or didn't know it was going on, don't worry. As always, there's plenty of documentation on social media.

That's a photo of Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Kitchener, Ontario, and Dave Jaworski, Mayor of Waterloo, Ontario, by the way. Canadian mayors are apparently a lot more fun than their American counterparts.

At the end of the event, people were encouraged to donate their not-so-gently-used pillows. Talk about a feel-good event (pun intended, as always). If you missed out on this year's pillow fight, don't worry! Judging from its popularity, International Pillow Fight Day will be returning next year. In the meantime, don't forget to brush up on your pillow fighting skills.

Images: saaareeee/Instagram