While city hall is often known as a place for mudslinging, this Saturday it will see dozens of Kitchener residents gathering for pillow slinging.
A formerly annual event will make its return on Saturday as Carl Zehr Square will host an International Pillow Fight Day event.
While suggesting that there will be a mass pillow fight at Kitchener City Hall on April Fool’s Day might seem like a joke, organizer Dan Lauckner says pillows will indeed fly Saturday afternoon.
“(International Pillow Fight Day) is always on the first Saturday of April. So, the first Saturday this year, it’s April 1st,” Lauckner explained. “So, yeah, this is not a joke. This is a real thing. It’s actually going to happen.”
Lauckner, who is a familiar face in and around the tri-cities after organizing tons of fun, quirky events, has been holding yearly pillow fights in the area for over a decade although this year’s event will be the first he has organized since 2018.
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“Well, I took one year off because I’d been doing it since 2011 and then the pandemic hit and couldn’t really do much,” he explained. “And I thought, this is a good year to bring it back. Last year was still kind of early. People were still kind of a little nervous.”
“Plus, I really wanted to do it in the new, revamped Carl Zehr Square at City Hall in Kitchener.”
The free event will take place on Saturday from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. with Lauckner simply asking that participants bring a pillow and a good attitude.
“As long as five people show up, it’s still a lot of fun,” the Kitchener resident said.
“You’re still swinging pillows at people that you haven’t met yet, friends you haven’t met yet. And it’s a good community-building exercise.”
Before the event begins, Lauckner will explain the rules to avoid anyone going into beast mode at the event as there will be participants of all ages involved.
“Nobody’s ever gotten hurt, it’s always been a fun experience,” he offered.
Lauckner says he will host several other games to get people in the spirit of the event as well because swinging pillows for an hour may become a little tedious.
In addition, he suggests those planning to attend wear something special to get into the spirit.
“Dress up in something funky, have some fun with it. It’s just an hour of silliness,” he said.
“It’s not sponsored by anyone. It’s not a corporate event. It’s just the community coming together to have some.”
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