Don't Panic – only 364 days until Towel Day 2015!
With major apologies for neglecting to give everyone a heads up that yesterday was Towel Day, I’ll begin by saying that there are only 364 days until the 2015 Towel Day celebration. On the outside chance you don’t know what Towel Day is, it’s an annual celebration of the life and works of the late English writer Douglas Adams. You see, it was Adams’ classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or H2G2, that alerted Planet Earth to that fact that a towel is one of the most useful items to carry with you around the universe.
The first Towel Day took place two weeks after Adams passed away far too young from a heart attack on May 11, 2001 as a no-brainer way for fans to pay their respects. With 364 days until the next Towel Day, there are any number of places and events to consider when making your celebratory plans. According to towelday.org, there are organized events in 22 different countries around the world with festivals for froods everywhere.
- There’s the annual Towel Olympics held in Paris. Events include the towel throw, towel combat, towel skipping, and towel superman, a sort of long jump carried out while wearing your towel like a cape. The traditional final event is the towel carry, where each team carries one of its members around a course on a towel, naturally.
- In Norway, the Kolumbus public transport company hands out free towels equipped with electronic passes that allow holders to travel free on its buses and boats from 12.42pm.
- Other international festivities which mark the day include readings of Vogon poetry which, as any H2G2 fan will tell you, is the third-worst in the galaxy, treasure hunts, flash mobs, and the creation and drinking of the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters, which are said to be “the alcoholic equivalent of a mugging, expensive AND bad for the head“.
If you head to Dresden next year, you might be lucky enough to be the beneficiary of a Towel Day Flash Mob…
Happy Towel Day to all. Start making plans now for 25.5.2015. Don’t say we didn’t remind you in time to make plans.
