Today I went to my first Flash mob ever, here in Vancouver. The theme was pillow fight (club). I participate peacefully with my camera. The scene took place on Robson Square, in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Here was the rules:

Bring a Hidden Pillow and wait for a sign…..
Date & Time: Saturday, March 25, 2006 more on this date
3:00 PM SHARP!!!
Location: Robson Square, Vancouver

-Look inconspicuous (For effects don’t draw attention to yourself)
-Hide your Pillow so it’s not visible (preferably feather)
-Do not congregate in the location try to be generally around it.
– It will be really weird when « Out of Nowhere » all these people start to Pillow Fight.

1: At exactly 3pm Pillows OUT!!! And descend onto Robson Square.
2: ONLY Pillow fight those with Pillows
3: DO NOT hit bystanders or cameras unless invited.
4: At 3:15 walk away.

The first ever Vancouver Flash Mob will honour those lovely Pillow Heads in San Francisco.
No one knows why or for whom it « Just happens ».

It was an amazing scene. Seeing feathers flying in the sky was rather poetic. I’d say there were more than an hundred people gathering there this afternoon, most of them armed with pillows. The fight lasted for 15 planned. A little bit too long I think because some people stopped fighting after around 8 minutes, exhausted! After the fight we went around the city for a walk and we came back around the battlefield. I was surprise to see some “pillow fighter” cleaning the square, picking up the feather.
It’s great to see that after all there is some life in Vancouver.

Special thanks to Stéphanie from whom I heard the news about the Flash mob.

If you look carefully at the picture above, you might see Billy Idol, well a rather young Billy!!!