saving ink • Scenes from a pillow fight

Scenes from a pillow fight

Because there’s a holiday this week (at least for those of us who live in countries with archaic Catholic traditions), I’m feeling somewhat refreshed and jovial, so I’m going to write about something a bit more fun for a change. Namely, the relatively new tradition of the Great Cracovian Pillow Fight*.

It starts out innocently enough. Students from the city’s universities gather at a set date in various corners of the Market Square, armed with pillows and dressed in t-shirt colors corresponding to their academic institution as designated on the event invitation. At the first note of the trumpeter from St. Mary’s marking the hour, they go running, pillows at the ready, towards the designated meeting point. The battle has begun.

At first it’s mild: gentle hits, lots of laughter.

But soon enough, the feathers start flying.

And shit gets intense.

Of course, it’s all in good fun.

Until your expensive lens gets slammed with a stray pillow, anyway.

Or until the cops start arresting people.

Because here’s a not-so-funny detail: the pillow fight was denied a permit by the city, probably on account of the mess that tends to get left behind (see below). So technically, kids can (and did) get citations for participating in an illegal demonstration - 15 tickets and 17 warnings were issued by the municipal authorities, namely for littering and disturbing the peace. Nonetheless, that didn’t spoil the fun for most participants, and there was a clean-up effort afterwards to rid the square of its non-pigeon feathers.