Editor - Stakheev Vladimir, photos - Andrei Raskin, music - Still Pluto
During autumn pillow fights, feathers cover the ground like snowdrifts and make winter feel closer. Most of the participants are young people willing to exert their energy in a peaceful way. It requires some courage because not everyone dares enter the center of a fighting crowd. And, of course, one needs to be agile enough to dodge head blows.
The fight plays out with music in the background and the participants take a break from time to time to catch their breath while enjoying the performing singers and bands. The fighters take pillows from home or buy them on-site for 200 rubles ($6). The goal is to tear the pillow to pieces and make their feathers fly out of it the most effectively. To prevent the fun from becoming a real fight, some participants offer friendly hugs to each other during the breaks. Despite pillow fights being an all-out melee, the fighters need to obey some rules. For example, it is forbidden to put anything heavy or sharp into the pillows and they should take off glasses or piercings. Although no was ever been injured in two years of fights, an ambulance always stays near the venue.
The organizers say that the idea of massive pillow fights was borrowed from America and spread very quickly in Moscow. The youth group ‘Flash mob’ organizes other seasonal events such as a massive watergun crossfire in summer or snowball fights in winter.
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