international pillow fight day 2016

by Kaylah Stroup
pillow fight, cleveland, #pillowfightCLE

Saturday morning I’m sitting at my desk, drinking my coffee, when a little notification box showed up in the bottom corner of Facebook. “Two of your friends are interested in going to an event.” I click on it, thinking it’s probably a concert. It directs me to an event page titled  “Pillow Fight Day Cleveland.” A pillow fight within walking distance of my house? Say no more, I am 100% interested.

The weather forecast wasn’t the best but I figured if you were the kind of person to go to a public pillow fight, you probably wouldn’t mind a few raindrops, right? The weather mostly held off. While by 3pm the temperature had dropped significantly from where it was at the beginning of the day, it wasn’t raining. A little bit of snow started to fall but still over 200 people showed up. It was easily one of my favorite experiences so far this year… maybe ever.

I think, without a doubt, the star of the pillow fight was the person in the dinosaur costume. First of all, anyone whose train of thought is “Oh, a pillow fight? I should wear my dinosaur costume!” is cool in my book but everyone clearly loved beating up on the dinosaur. I feel like a lot of children are kind of shy and wouldn’t necessarily be all that comfortable hitting strange adults with their pillows but they took to that dinosaur like flies to honey. Poor dinosaur had to be SO tired at the end of fight!

I originally brought my camera in hopes of getting funny moment of impact shots but shortly after it started I realized I just wanted to shoot all the smiles. Everyone was just glowing with happiness. The crowd was incredibly diverse, people of all ages, races, and walks of life showed up. It was impossible to not smile watching all these strangers hitting each other with pillows. I’m getting all teary eyed typing this because it was seriously just so magical. Seeing adults act like children is my favorite.

I’m pretty sure the shot below is my favorite of the day.
dinosaur costume, pillow fight

Jeff and I didn’t bring along pillows this year, just cameras. 2017, I’m coming ready to fight. I already have it on my calendar.
xoxo

International Pillow Fight Day events happen in cities all across the world. The official website has a list of cities and where they’re being held, as well as tips of creating your own event if there isn’t already one happening in your city. You guys HAVE TO GO next year. I promise, there is nothing like seeing it in person.

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21 comments

Jeannie C April 4, 2016 - 1:44 pm

Now this is an event made for Me

http://Www.whimsicalzoo.blogspot.com

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:37 am

Hehe! Hope you get to attend next year!

Tiny Grey Cat April 4, 2016 - 2:07 pm

That looks amaaazing! You certainly captured the joy! Poor dino though, he must've been knackered! What a wonderful event – I'm definitely going to see if there's one near me 😀
Lily xo
tinygreycat.etsy.com

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:37 am

Right? I can't even imagine how tired he had to be.

AlexiaDahl.com April 4, 2016 - 2:08 pm

This idea is so awesome, for a minute i thought the dinosaur guy/girl might be T-rex from T-rex thursdays (https://www.facebook.com/TrexTuesdays), but i guess anyone can buy a T-rex costume. You will however have to be pretty awesome to wear it to a pillow fight.

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:39 am

Haaaah!

Indy April 4, 2016 - 2:11 pm

This is awesome. Days like this, especially Halloween, I think, are awesome, because it lets people be themselves.

I think people try too hard to be serious or professional, and this leads to a lot of stress and unhappiness. People need more outlets like this to have fun and be creative – it would definitely make the world a happier place! 🙂

I love all the smiles you captured, especially the ones with the dino. AWESOME.

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:39 am

I couldn't agree more!!!

xoxolib.com April 4, 2016 - 4:19 pm

I've never heard of International Pillow Fight Day but it's such a fun idea! I mean, I'm not going to think of all the things that it could go wrong, I'm just going to focus on the connectivity and the way everyone comes together for fun. That's so funny!

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:42 am

Yep, no need to worry about the what ifs. Everything has the possibility of something going terribly wrong.

Speaking of, I didn't see a single person cry at this event. I was pretty sure at least one person would get hit just the right way, not even necessarily hard but in the eye or something, and I didn't even see a child cry! A joyous time was had by all. 😀

Heather Shoberg April 4, 2016 - 6:17 pm

Love this! How could you not be happy at a giant pillow fight surrounded by smiling faces?

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:42 am

Right?! I love being surrounded by smiles!

Teresa April 5, 2016 - 1:26 am

ahaha that is awesome!

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:42 am

Hope you get to attend next year. It's even more awesome in person!

Hillary April 5, 2016 - 2:01 am

This looks AWESOME. I missed out on this year's event, but there were two held near me this past weekend, so I'll have to remember for next time! Thanks for sharing!

Hillary | http://www.flinntrospection.com

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:43 am

That's awesome. I really hope you get to go next year. It is SO much fun!

Jess Cohen April 5, 2016 - 3:54 am

What! This is crazy awesome. I need to do something like this with my life soon. I can imagine how happy everyone would have seemed. Thanks for sharing this, this put a bit of light in my day.

http://jesandbleu.com

Kaylah April 5, 2016 - 11:44 am

🙂

Smile, Snap, Sparkle April 5, 2016 - 7:19 pm

Oh my, this is the best event ever! And that guy in dinosaur costume is just too awesome, this post totally made my day! 🙂

JT May 10, 2016 - 1:15 am

I just stumbled across your blog tonight. I'm glad that you enjoyed the T Rex costume. Believe me, I was tremendously excited about wearing it on that day.

Peter Kim September 19, 2016 - 6:35 am

Very nice!

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