Don’t panic and carry a towel!


Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans.

On this day, fans openly carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to demonstrate their appreciation for the books and the author.

The commemoration was first held 25 May, 2001, two weeks after Adams’ death on 11 May.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter 3:

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost.” What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)

What is happening on Towel Day 2016?

From Towelday.org:

ONLINE / LOCATION INDEPENDENT

  • The Towel Day Ambassador Contest has ended: Lisa Orozco is Earth’s Towel Day Ambassador for 2016. Stefan Gemzell is Ambassador for all Nordic Nations and Andrew Pithie for the UK and the Commonwealth. Congratulations to all!
  • We have created a Towel Day Facebook event, please join it and invite your hoopy friends!
  • Right on time for Towel Day, BBC America released the news that it starts production on the series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. “Penned by Max Landis and from the producers of The Walking Dead, the series is a comedic thriller that follows the bizarre adventures of eccentric “holistic” detective Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett) and his reluctant assistant Todd (Elijah Wood). The series is an adaptation of Douglas Adams’ (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) wildly successful comic novels, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and is set in the unexpected world of the hyper, absurd, eponymous detective.” More over at BBCAmerica.com. If you want to keep up with news on this series, it already has a Twitter feed.
  • The annual Bags of Love Towel design contest has just been launched! It runs from 4 until 25 May (Towel Day) and contestants are asked to design their own beach towel. The theme this year is “travel”. Bags of Love is a maker of customized gifts and you can win vouchers to spend on their website, your own customised beach towel, all in their £600 pot of prizes and an interview published on their blog. Check out the winning designs from previous years, they were absolutely fantastic: 2015, 2014, 2013. Details
  • Lofty Pursuits’ Vogon Poetry Slam is going universe-wide! Bad poets who can’t attend it in person in Tallahassee FL, can now submit their horrible texts online from wherever they are, have their work included… and maybe win prizes! More
  • Everplush offers a 40% discount until 25 May on their Biospired travel & fitness towel line, which they claim is the “perfect towel for a hitchhiker”.
  • In honor of Towel Day, author Thomas C. Davis Jr. is giving away copies of his eBook “Got Click”, no strings attached and DRM-free, as a way to honour Douglas Adams, reduce world panic and promote the ultimate enlightment of 42. Go ahead and download it in AZW3 format for Kindle or ePub for other devices.If you want to thank him, reviews are of course welcome!
  • Doodle Dojo, an Etsy seller, is selling again three Hitchhiker’s Guide themed t-shirts: “42 uses for a towel”, “Oh no, not again!”, and “The sandwich maker”. Links in this Facebook post
  • On Kera.org, Bill Young published an article called “Don’t panic! National Towel Day 2016 is just around the corner!”
  • The Unseen Podcast will have a Towel Day Special. From their website: “[The Unseen Podcast is] an open, relaxed, stretched out conversation on the future of humanity and the search for life and meaning in the natural universe. We don’t have many answers, but we have questions, and we hope to continue moving forward to better, wiser questions.” The live stream of the recording session will be available on May 21.
  • Billy Stevens, using some code that a friend and he wrote, made a webpage that generates random sentences that sound like quotes from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Every time you refresh you get a new “quote”. It’s available at http://towel.labs.wasv.me/
  • Marco Servetto, Lecturer of computer science in New Zealand, is developing a programming language called 42 and on Towel Day 2016 will release the getting starting guide of the 42 language. It will be available here. Plus, he’s going to do my lecture with a towel on his shoulder, just like he did last year!
  • Alexandria Blaelock, author of “Stress Free Dinner Parties: How to plan, host and enjoy your party”, wrote a post about a Towel Day Dinner Party that will be a source of inspiration to others. It starts with “Apéritif: Beer and Peanuts”, has “Ameglian Major Cow, the meat that wants to be eaten” on the menu, etc. Very nice!
  • Nomadix.co offer a 20% discount on their towels (“the only towel you need”, “Suitable for yoga, beach, camping and travel”). Use the code “TOWELDAY” at checkout.
  • Little Miss Muffet Stamps will release six Towel Day themed digital stamps (images) to celebrate at Little Miss Muffet Stamps. These are wonderful for coloring, creating and crafting for cards, scrapbooks, and various other handmade items. On May 25 only, these images will be free with any purchase of $42 from Little Miss Muffet Stamps. No coupon required and it’s automatically added to qualifying carts during checkout.
  • In online virtual world Second Life, there’s a commemorative party event at the Liquid Python Lucky Rollers club, running from 3pm to 5pm Pacific time. All participants will be expected to bring a towel and there will be contests, trivia, and games in which Second Life currency (L$) will be awarded. This event is free for anyone on Second Life.
  • Remember this brilliant Towel Day video game? For Towel Day 2016 Stagadooch Games have released a version for android devices! (Marvin will be so thrilled) Download the android version here or click the picture below to play the computer version:


ARGENTINA

  • In Córdoba, there’s a small gathering. It’s private, but if someone wants to join, they can contact the Towel Day Córdoba. They’ll watch the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie and try to recite some Vogon poetry.
  • In Rosario, Rosana continued the yearly tradition of having a private Towel Day dinner with friends and family to remember Douglas Adams and his incredible work.

AUSTRALIA

  • In Charleville, Queensland, staff of The Cosmos Centre have been made aware of Towel Day by an intergalactical hitchhiker who knows where his towel is. Unsure whether or not they are going to do something with that valuable information. Australia is surprisingly absent from this list in 2016, so we’ll just leave this here as an encouragement for our Australian friends and because a Cosmic Centre sounds like a good place to find other hitchhikers looking for a spacecraft to board.

AUSTRIA

  • In Bregenz, European Towel Day Ambassabor 2015 Philipp Horatschek is celebrating Towel Day with some Guerilla Reading: he will read from the book in public places around his hometown. Come join him with your towel (and bath robe)! You can find out where and when on Facebook and his Towel Day website. Every year the whole group ends up at the Beach Bar. (around 19.00)
  • In Vienna, Martin will make a video in the Museumsquartier of people walk alone, then form the number 42 for only a second, then disperse again. Thanks for your first contribution to Towel Day, Martin!
  • Also in Vienna, the planetarium offers free admission to its shows on Towel Day for anyone who carries a towel. Show times: 15.00, 16.30, 18.00 and 19.30.

BRAZIL

  • In Brasilia-DF, ON MAY 22TH, Omninerdia celebrates Towel Day for the fourth time, From 14.00 until 19.00. Drop by and take a part in their Towel Contest, Musical Nerd Quiz and the traditional Vogon Poetry Contest. There are prizes to be won, and being early is a plus: at 13.42 they will start to hand out 42 unique buttons to those who arrive first. RSVP and details on Facebook. 
    Check out the pictures from the Towel contest!
  • In Caxias do Sul, from 18.00–22.00 (UTC-03) there’s the 3rd edition of a Dia da Toalha celebration at Atelier De Rafael Dambros (Rua Engenheiro Euclides da Cunha 384). There’s will be a lot of artistic activity but also a cosplay parade! Full programme here. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Recife, ON MAY 22TH at 15.00 there’s the annual geek pride and Towel Day celebration at Livraria Cultura. Bring your towel and come chat about life, the universe and everything! Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • São Paolo will be the location of Don’t PaniCON on May 21st. There will be a cosplay contest, Vogon poetry, sweepstakes and much more! Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • Science blog Nano-Macro will give away the trilogy in five books to a lucky winner. Brasil residents only. More
  • Nerdgeekfeelings.com is offering its readers a chance to win a Dirk Gently book! More

CANADA

  • In Regina, the Cathedral Village Arts Festival will host its first ever Towel Day Party on May 25th! The Cathedral Village Arts Festival (CVAF) is a weeklong celebration of the arts that attracts about 40,000 people to the prairie city of Regina, Canada. The Festival is hosting a multi-arts, all ages welcome, family friendly Towel Day Party as one of the signature events for its 25th Anniversary. The event includes readings by science fiction author Elizabeth Lang; dancing to the music of the Marching Martian Marshmellotrons; and “best costume” and “best decorated towel” contests with children’s, youth and adult categories. Judging in the towel and costume contests will include points for reflecting the Festival’s “paint the town!” theme and/or its 25th anniversary. For more information, check out the Festival website at cvaf.ca! More

CHINA

  • In Shanghai, the Towel Day event starts at 9 pm at the bar “Calm” (DingXi Lu 432. near XinHua Lu) and at 10pm the movie will be shown on the big screen. There’s a free welcome beer for everyone with towel and a lot of games. And just like in previous years, carrying a water pistol is cool. Details on Smartshanghai.com

CZECH REPUBLIC

  • In Brno the traditional meeting starts 16:00 in Plzenský Dvur table no… that’s right: 42!
  • In Ostrava-Poruba, geocachers meet at 19:30 pm in the parking lot in front of Original Baseball Restaurant Arrows. Logbook will remain in place until at least 20:00. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Pardubice, the traditional Towel Day event now takes place on Red Square at the Jan Perner Transport Faculty (University of Pardubice), starting at 18.42 and ending at 19.12. Around 19.00 a picture will be taken.WARNING: May contain traces of Vogon poetry! Your towel must be visible! Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Prague, there’s a meeting of Galactic hitchhikers at the Beergarten by the Letná Chateau (50.0961031N, 14.4256497E 25.5.2015 v 17:00). The meeting starts at 17.00!
  • Also in Prague, geocachers have their traditional flash mob from 18.30 to 19.00, in front of the Rudolfinum. So keep your towels ready and be there or be square! Details on Geocaching.com.
  • Online bookstore Martinus.cz has a surprise including an online contest coming up for their fans and fans of Douglas Adams… Everything will be disclosed on May 25! Details and RSVP on Facebook.

DENMARK

  • In Aalborg, Douglas Adams fans will celebrate at cozy pub in the center, drink pan galactic garble blasters and maybe recite Vogon poetry. It starts at 19.00 and ends at 22.00. Details and RSVP on Facebook. You can also mail Jakob, the organizer at kr AT rup DOT dk.
  • In Kopenhagen, Dani and Jesé invite fellow Douglas Adams fans to a picnic at a beautiful park full of sunshine. As it’s a Wednesday it won’t be too long, but they look forward to meet some new people and to enjoy a lovely day in memory of Adams’ work. RSVP and details on Facebook.

FINLAND

  • In Tampere, hoopy froods are celebrating at the Jack the Rooster terassi at 18.00. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Turku, Cosmic Comic Cafe presents its 10th annual Towel Day. Yes, Cosmic Comic Cafe has been celebrating towelness for a decade already! Theirs might be the first and oldest ongoing bad poetry night on Towel Day, they started in 2006. Unlike everywhere else in this galactic sector, their poetry night is not a competition: anyone’s and everyone’s poem (including Vogons) will be recited immediately. You churn it up, we blurt it out! The poetry shows start at 20.00 and repeats every hour till 23.00. The DJ will provide entertainment between shows. The programme ends at midnight with the Prophecy for the End of the Universe competition (participants battle with apocalyptic speeches, the most cataclysmically bombastic prophet will win a nice little petunia). Froods carrying a towel will get a discount on Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters. While waiting for the t-day, the Finnish Towel Day site and Facebook page will be publishing daily horrible poems dug up from the last year’s archive, and introducing Towel Day activities around the globe.

FRANCE

  • In Lyon, you could warm up for Towel Day on May 14 and 15, at the Intergalactiques Festival:
  • A booth at Intergalactiques will be manned by the Grand Ordre de la Serviette
  • May 15th, at 14:00 : Round table discussion “God saves the screen : Et le cinéma de Science-fiction britannique alors”
  • May 15th, at 16:00 : Round table discussion “Jamais sans ma serviette : L’humour dans la Science-fiction Britannique”
  • May 15th, at 16:30 : Vogon poetry contest at the Amphithéâtre Charles Mérieux, Salle 2, Place de l’Ecole, 69007 Lyon. Go here to read how you can participate.
  • More about the Intergalactiques festival here.
  • In Paris, le Grand Ordre de la Serviette celebrates Towel Day at l’école 42, in the cantina. You need to register in advance to access the school, preferably before Towel Day, and you need to bring your ID card (and of course your towel!). 
    The full programme:
  • 12.00 doors open, tasty vegan food from Super Vegan available
  • 13.30 H2G2 conference
  • 14:30 The famous Towel Day Olympics!
  • 19.00 Gathering at the vegan restaurant of GOS chief illustrator Simon Michel, who will open the doors of Super Vegan for this special occasion. Meet, talk H2G2 and chat in a friendly atmosphere (no reason to fear being hit with by towel… oh wait). Warning: it’s a small restaurant, you need to register for this too.
  • Here’s the Facebook event page
  • The weather report on FranceTVinfo included some information about Towel Day and the h2g2 movie trailer.

GERMANY

  • In Berlin, Towel Day is celebrated in the Zyankali Bar (Gneisenaustraße 17), with Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters at a special price, beer, peanuts, gin and tonic, etc! Dresscode: dressing gown and towel. BYOB — Bring your own Babelfish. Details on Wherevent.
  • Also in Berlin, at 20.00 Towel Day will be celebrated at C-base, a non-profit association for learning about software, hardware and networks. Once again there it will involve a Space drink mixing contest. More
  • And also in Berlin, geocachers pay tribute to Douglas Adams from 18.00 until 19.00. Please wear a bathrobe! ;-) Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Bevern, geocachers get together at Eiscafe Bruno (Schloß 3, 37639 Bevern). The logbook is open from 20.15 until 21.15. There’s a box for exchanging TB’s and Coins. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Bullenwiese, geocachers meet from 18:00 until 18:30 (usually longer) for a pleasant chat, and exchanging TB’s and Coins. Bring your towel! Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Buseck, geocachers gather from 18.42 until 19.42 at Schlosspark Großen-Buseck, beim Springbrunnen, shortly before Earth is demolished to make way for an interstellar bypass. If you don’t carry a towel, you should at least wear a bathrobe! (this is ofcourse voluntary) You can sign the logbook and exchange TB’s and Geocoins, and talking about the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, and geocaching is encouraged. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Flensburg, geocachers organize a meeting on the Südermarkt (Plateau Am Südermarkt, oben) from 17.42 until 18.42. Please bring a towel, it’s about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have! Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Frankfurt am Main, geoachers are having a Towel Day event from 19.42 until 20.42 at Brunnen zwischen Hauptwache und Konstabler, höhe Zeil 71, 60313 Frankfurt am Main.
  • 19:42 Beginn
  • 20:00 Ansprache inkl. Lesung
  • 20:24 Das Logtuch beschreiben und TBs per Anhalter losschicken
  • 20:30 Fragerunde mit DER Antwort nach dem Leben, dem Universum und dem ganzen Rest
  • 20:42 Gruppenfoto
  • Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Friesenheim, geocachers have a friendly get-together in Schuttern Gasthaus Prince from 18.30 to about 22.00. There is room for a maximum of 35 people, so please indicate that you want to attend. If there are more registrations, a waiting list will be make. Bring your finest towel! For questions, please consult Deep Throught ;-) Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Hagen, geocachers get together at Die Pelmke. Logbook is open from 19.00 until at least 21.00. Please bring a towel. There’s parking space nearby for your “Heart of Gold” or Vogon Constructor Ship. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Hamburg, celebrations will start at 18:42 at the “Plats ohne Namen” (aka Glücksburger Platz, Altona Nord, Hamburg). There will be Pangalactic gargle blasters, a few chapters of the Guide wil be read, there MAY be a Maghratea workshop on planet construction, maybe a lecture about how to throw yourself on the ground and miss, etc. Join the party and don’t forget your towel!
  • In Hildesheim, geocachers meet from 17.30 until 18.30 (= Garantiezeit) at Ernst-Ehrlicher-Park (Rosenlabyrinth) at the specified coordinates. There, near the playground, there is a small sitting area, with good weather you can have a picnic, sit or chat. It would be great if everyone brought a towel (which is also handy to sit on). Last but not least, TB’s and Coins. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Iserlohn, geocachers gather from 17.25 until 18.05 at the specified coordinates. Afterwards, if you want, you can go to the next event at Die Pelmke in Hagen. Please bring a towel. Geocaching.com.
  • In Karlsruhe, Students Pub z10 hosts a Towel Day Event. It starts at 20.00.
  • In Krefeld, geocachers are meeting between 17.00 and 17.45 at coordinates that you can find on Geocaching.com
  • In Landau, geocachers are having a Towel Day event for 42 minutes, starting at 19.42. They can wet their feet with water and experience the relaxing feeling of drying them off with their towel. [As our Babel fish are experiencing technical difficulties, here’s the rest in German:] “Und so rufe ich auf, an diesem Abend gemeinsam mit uns ein klein wenig die Füße mit Wasser zu benetzen und anschließend mit dem Objekt der Begierde, dem geschätzten Handtuch, diese nicht einfach nur trocken zu reiben, sondern mehr oder minder sinnlich zur entspannten Trockenheit zu massieren. Passieren wird all dieses am, im und um das Kneipp-Becken herum, das sich auf dem Weinerlebnispfad Nußdorf befindet. Es wird keine Organisation bezüglich Essen & Trinken in dem Sinne geben, doch wenn sich jemand spontan berufen fühlt, Kuchen, Gebäck, Obst, kleine Snacks, ein Fläschchen Wein, Sekt, Saft o. ä. mitzubringen, ist sie/er herzlich dazu eingeladen.” Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Lindlar, geocachers are having a get-together from 18.00 until approximately 21.00 in the tavern in Restaurant Biesenbach, Kirchplatz 4. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Lüneburg, geocachers meet — with or without towel — in the bakery Soetebiers, Uelzener Str 107. Places are reserved for them from 16.30 until 18.00, when the bakery closes and everyone has to leave. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • Also in Lüneburg, Thomas Ney presents part two of his reading of the hitchhiker’s guide. It starts at 19.42 h at KulturBäckerei Lüneburg, Dorette-von-Stern-Str. 2. Ticket are available from reservix.de or ticket AT thomasney DOT de
  • In Minden, there will be a great party on the grounds of Campus Minden (Bielefeld University). Come in your Bathrobe and Don´t forget your towel to get free entrance. There will be the movie and the original BBC Series. Party starts at 19:42. Watch out for the Don´t panic Flag !!!
  • In Mönchengladbach, geocachers gather at the coordinates, which is at the stairs up to Münster , an ideal spot for a group photo. Please everyone bring a towel, as there might be problems during our galactic adventures without them. Plenty of parking spots nearby. The organizer is determined NOT to eat a Döner at Alibaba afterwards, those who want to accompany him are welcome. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Münstern, student radio station Radio Q will broadcast something about Towel Day. It will be uploaded to their Soundcloud profile in the early afternoon.
  • In Neukirchen-Vluyn (near Moers), geocachers organize a meeting at 19.00 at the Restaurant at the end of the Universe (Averdunkshof). By 22.00 at the latest, you should have paid your bills and gradually retreat to the landing site. Capacity is limited: there’s room for up to 60 people and the kitchen wants to know a week in advance how many hitchhikers want to eat and if possible what. ;-) So please tell the organizer by May 15th what you want to eat, then everything goes faster later. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Nürnberg, the day BEFORE Towel Day at 19:30, Alexander Pawlak will give a public talk “Per Anhalter durch die Wissenschaft” based on his book at the Nicolaus-Copernicus Planetarium Bildungszentrum (Am Plärrer 41, Nürnberg, Germany). The entrance fee is 7 eur or 5 eur, if you bring your towel. More info here.
  • In Rostock, fans will meet in Peter Weiss Haus Freigarten (that is outside, even if the weather is not good) at 19:42, enjoing life and universe and everything (that also might be a drink involving some alcohol, trying to put together the worst song possible!
  • In Saarlouis, geocachers are having a flash mob at 17.00. (tea time) Instructions: each participant strolls WITH A TOWEL on the large market towards the fountain, where the logbook lies. It doesn’t matter whether you cary your towel under your arm, have it hanging around your neck or wear it like a kilt, just as long as the towel is somehow visible. There are no painfully embarrassing things like a towel dance plannedb but if you want to make an ass of yourself, of course you can. The flash mob ends at 17.42. Then the group can dissolve, move to the old town, enjoy an ice cream or whatever, or just stand around and chat. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Viernheim, geoachers meet from 15.42 until 16.42 at Gasthaus zur Golden Gull, the big M, the box host or McD. By now, you know where. There’s parking space outside. It would be awesome if everyone brought his towel! Details on Geocaching.com.
  • Matrix42, a German IT company based in Frankfurt (the 42 in their name directly originates in the answer to life the universe and everything), will host a competition on their Facebook page where you can win 1 out of 42 Towels! They ask Germans to send in pictures of uses for a towel in an office. (sorry, this first edition of their competition is for Germans only) Watch out for their post on the 20th of May that will launch the competition!
  • DNUG, the German user group for all IBM collaboration software users, encourages people who have a towel from the DNUG 42nd conference to show it on Facebook and Twitter on Towel Day!
  • KRZ, a municipal data center in Germany published an informative article about Towel Day on their website, with a picture of staff who clearly know where their towels are.

HUNGARY

  • In Budapest, Towel Day will be celebrated in the fittingly called “42 Social Pub”. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Debrecen, the Debreceni Moly Klub celebrates for the 7th time. They gather at 18.00 at the Nagytemplom, Üvegpiramis. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Pécs, the Minerva Library is celebrating from 17:00 to 19:00. They’ll try to write Vogon poetry, do exercises with their towels, and discuss Michael Hanlon’s book “The Science of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Maybe some Pangalactic gargleblasters will appear, and of course some quotations of the Guide will be read. Don’t forget to bring your towel! Details and RSVP on Facebook.

INDIA

IRELAND

  • In Cork, geocachers gather from 7pm until 7.30pm (officially) in the venue where they usually meet, ‘neath the old Viaduct, just south of Cork city. Simply turn up with a towel and stick your thumb out to try and get a lift from a passing space ship. Being a fan of the Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy stories is of course not essential — this is a Geocaching event and if you just turn up for a chat, that’s great! If this is your first event — all the better! The organizer will of course ask if the venue can serve Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters just for the evening… but can’t guarantee that they’ll come close to the correct recipe that’ll have the effect of “having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick”… Details on Geocaching.com.

ITALY

  • In Ancona, hitchhikers guide fans get together at Donegal Ancona (Via Carlo Simeoni 8, 60122 Ancona). Don’t forget your towel! Details and RSVP on Facebook
  • In Firenze, Stratagemma (Via dei Servi 15R) observes Towel Day: “Durante il tutto il giorno potrete ricaricare da noi il vostro asciugamano o prenderne in prestito uno in caso ne foste sprovvisti. Dalle 17:00 sarà attivo il nostro rinfresco per autostoppisti al quale potrete ricaricare le vostre di batterie e da lì in avanti potrete prendere parte a un avvenimento storico: scriveremo tutti insieme una voce della Guida Galattica.” Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Lecce, people with towels can find eachother on Piazza Sant’Oronzo. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Milan, from 11.00 on, fans will receive a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster at the Santeria Social Club (Milan, Viale Toscana 31, 20136). Details and RSVP on Facebook and Eventhint
  • Also in Milan, the there’s a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy themed evening at the Rock’N’Roll club (Via Giuseppe Bruschetti, 11, 20125 Milano, Italy). There will be a galactic menu at a stellar price, SBAM from space // Ariel Sparkling in command of the ISS from the web, gadgets and surprises, rock and roll music, the world is going to end, and there will be NO Vogon poetry. Details and RSVP on Facebook
  • In Modena, meeting point there’s are hitchiker festivities at the Piazza Grande in front of Caffè Concerto from 19.00–21.00. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Parma, the appointment is the Surfer’s Den (Via Massimo D’Azeglio, 62, 43125 Parma PR, Italy) at 6.30pm. Thhis will be the sixth edition of Towel Day in Parma. There’ll be a free chupito for who carry a towel. RSVP and details on Facebook
  • In Perugia, Douglas Adams fans will meet late in the evening at Polo Nerd (Via dei Canottieri, 2A). Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Pisa, Davide Erumeldon Amato is calling for a get-together at the piazza Martiri from 9.00 until 9.30. Details and RSVP on Facebook
  • Also in Pisa, Libreria L’Orsa Minore offers a discount during Towel Day from 10.30 on to everyone who carries a towel AND there’s Vogon Poetry, the last aperitif before the end of the world, readings from the book and a screening of the movie (or something like that, our Babel fish has been malfunctioning lately). More.
  • In Rome, the Daily Hop is proud to host a Towel Day celebration. They can not guarantee a spectacle as impressive as that which can be observed from the window of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but without a doubt it will be an evening not to be missed. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Taranto, from 19.00–21.00 at the Virgilio di Taranto gardens Towel Day will be celebrated. A day to meet all galactic hitchikers van Earth and together pay tribute to the memory of the most visionary hitchhiker of the Milky Way: Douglas Adams! Tell your friends, human or alien, and bring your towel! Details and RSVP on Facebook
  • In Turin, Towel Day celebrations will take place at the restaurant and wine bar Quadre. Via Perugia, 41, 10152 Torino, Italy. From 6 PM to 8 PM there will be an aperitif to celebrate the Towel Day. It’s their own version of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, for just 5 Altairan dollars. There’s also a special selection from their cellar, special offers for hitchhikers… and no Vogon poetry, promise! Remember to bring your towel! More
  • Also in Turin, the company 42 Accelerator celebrates by organizing a free workshop on how to set up a business, called “TOWELDAY 2016: The most important resource for setting up a business is YOU!”. More
  • In Udine fans will meet at the Cormor Park at 16.30, to get to know eachother, exchange ideas, play, joke, and to organize a better Towel Day in the future. More
  • In Varese everyone’s invited to an evening reading with unpublished short stories in Italian. Bring a towel and get ready for a fun evening of humor and literature, where the meaning of life will be explained, which is “42”. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Verona, hoopy froods will meet on Piazza Brà at 17.00, and maybe drink Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters later. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • Italian Douglas Adams fans can find others to celebrate with, post their Towel Day pictures and participate in a contest by writing an entry to the Hitchhikers Guide on this Facebook event.
  • If your city isn’t mentioned here, check the pinned post from this event, for an up-to-date list of Italian celebrations and contacts.
  • Fanpage.it published this article by Federica D’Alfonso: “Oggi è il “Towel Day”: un asciugamano celebra la “Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti”.

ISRAEL

  • Magavot (literally “Towels”) celebrates Towel Day by giving you a DryTech towel as a free gift (1 per order) with any order from their website www.magavot.co.il throughout the “towel festival week” (May 21st — May 28th 2016). These DryTech towels are quick drying, super absorbent, lightweight and compact. They also sell all kinds of other towels. They’d love it if you left a comment on their post about their support for Towel Day.

MEXICO

  • For the fith year in a row, Esteban Cisneros, who teaches Spanish and Literature to seventh and ninth graders at the Albanta “University for Kids”, organizes Towel Day celebrations. There will be reading from the book, a Vogon Poetry Contest for kids, a little tea party, songs and the traditional towel carrying ritual. And of course, during the weekend Esteban will have his own Towel Week Celebration — cin cin, you hoopy frood! Take a look at last year’s pictures.

NETHERLANDS

  • In Pieterburen, the seal rescue centre is collecting secondhand towels. Anyone who brings in a towel gets free entrance :) (so don’t take your favourite towel but one that you won’t miss!) Website
  • Rotterdam Towel Day 2016 will feature: Pangalactic gargleblasters, a Vogon Poetry Contest, and barbeque. Location TBA.
  • Q42, a Dutch company that works on apps, websites, connected devices, games and VR, continues its tradition of giving away cool towels. Go here for instructions on how to get one.

NEW ZEALAND

  • In Dunedin, geoachers meet from 5.30 pm until 7 pm at Eureka Cafe and Bar, 116 Albany Street, Dunedin. Time for a chat, have a drink, something to eat and talking about favourite hitchhiking experiences. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • Marco Servetto, Lecturer of computer science in New Zealand, is going to do his lecture with a towel on his shoulder, just like he did last year. Also on Towel Day, he will release the getting starting guide of the 42 language that he is developing. It will be available here.

NORWAY

  • In Bryne, geocachers are meeting at noon to sign the logbook and socialize. At 12.30 there’s a wrap-up followed by the end of the event. Remember to bring a towel! Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Oslo, skeptics are celebrating Towel Day at Mathallen, Vulkan 5. Registration mandatory. Bring a towel! More

POLAND

  • In Mikolow, there’s a geocaching event. A group picture will be taken. Bring your best towel! Details on geocaching.com

ROMANIA

  • In Timisoara, the couchsurfing community is organising their fifth Towel Day event. RSVP and details on couchsurfing.org.

RUSSIA

  • In Saint-Petersburg, Russia, fans of Douglas Adams meet on Palace Square at 4 pm (now changed to 5 pm, or so it seems). After a couple hours of festivities they will watch “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” in a cool place called “Re: play”. Details and RSVP on vk.com.

SINGAPORE

  • Mensa Singapore and the Irish Graduates Association of Singapore are teaming up to celebrate Towel Day and Geek Pride Day with a quiz night. Payment: $10/person to contribute to prize pool. To register, email: admin AT irish-graduates DOT org DOT sg

SLOVAKIA

  • Martinus.sk, the big online shop and the biggest bookshop in Slovakia celebrates Towel Day and the unforgettable humour of Douglas Adams in their 9 bookstores across Slovakia and online, with their customers and fans, as in previous years. 
    For this memorable day they have prepared:
  • Special all-day 25% discount on sci-fi and fantasy books
  • Special set of towel and badge for 42 hitchhikers
  • Special badges for their booksellers
  • A hoopy competition prepared by Martinus.sk. The photo of the most creative usage of a towel will be rewarded with an exclusive Hitchhikers “Don’t panic!” towel and a badge with “I know where my towel is”
  • Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • Slovakian magazine “Emma” published an article about Towel Day with photos of celebrities wearing towels: “Pripravte sa na Den uterákov: Kúpelnové “róby” sexi celebrít”.

SLOVENIA

  • In Velenje, the Towel Day event starts at 6 pm at the “Bar Koticek”. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

SOUTH AFRICA

  • In Cape Town, at Fish Hoek Beach, at 8 am hoopy froods are going to meet for a mass picture of people showing their towels. All volunteers meet at the beach in front of the Galley and they’ll take it from there… Details and RSVP on Facebook.

SOUTH KOREA

  • In Seoul, where AlphaGo was beaten by Sedol Lee, there is a Towel Day Party to celebrate the dawn of whole new world of Earthians. From 6pm until 10pm at the 1950 hotel. They’ve prepared a magic show (using towels. The magician says he is actually a psychic), an Alpha-Omok game (human vs AI), a jazz performance (Star Wars style), and cosmic background radiation DJ party. And hitchhiker award winners will announce doctrines for the last 5 minutes before the planet earth ends. Details and RSVP Facebook.

SPAIN

  • In Barcelona, the “Colla Jove de Barcelona”, a team of human towers, will celebrate Towel Day. They will bring a towel to their training and recite some Vogon poetry.
  • In Madrid there’s Towel Day picnic in Retiro park at 17.30, followed, if there is popular demand, by subsequent beers at a nearby bar called “El fin del Mundo” (The end of the world). Meeting point is the Retiro park entrance facing Puerta de Alcala. Regardless on whether you’ve read the book or even heard of it, you can join and bring your favorite junk food and/or drink to spend a careless May evening. Some ‘litronas’ will be provided. Towels are optional. More on Couchsurfing.
  • Also in Madrid, there’s a meetup of the Meetup group “role players geeks and gamers” starting at 19.00 at the Cafe Rio Nearest Principe Pio. Details and RSVP on Meetup.com.
  • In Santiago de Compostela (Galicia), combined festivities are held to mark Towel Day and the tenth Lusophile and Reintegrationist Pride Day (DdoOLeR’16). 
    There are two different ways of taking part on it (perfectly compatible both of them): VIRTUALLY and IN PERSON.
  • VIRTUALLY: From 00:00 to 23:59 Take part by publishing in your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram … ) your self-portrait properly toweled and, if possible, with some other Lusophone fetish (a rooster of Barcelos, a dictionary, a bottle of Porto wine… ) in your hands. Tag it with the hagstags #towelday and #towelselfie (in order to let the whole World know) and #diadatoalha and #ddooler2016 (for the Lusophone World) .
  • IN PERSON: 21:00 Meeting at the “Taberna da República do Couto Misto” (Ruela da Oliveira, 3), where we will listen to our this edition’s godmother’s speech (Arca da Noe’s owner and Best Venue Martin Codax Prize winner Noemi Vázquez Nogueira) and enjoy trully portuguese music, drinks and snacks (towel party).
  • More info on the DdoOLeR’2016 blog (under construction) and on Facebook.

SWEDEN

  • In Bengtsfors, the Strömkullegymnasium’s institute for English, Swedish literature and pan-galactic culture will remind students of Douglas Adams’ death with a Towel Day celebration. They will meet at the Salmon statue on Courthouse Square at 17:15 for an introduction to the life and work of Douglas Adams. After that, terrible Vogon poetry will be recited. etc. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Gävle, “Gefle Science-Fiction” will celebrate Towel Day. Recitation of vogon poetry is optional, beer and peanuts are mandatory. The city council has delivered a permit to meet in the town center and recite Vogon poetry to the general public (they clearly don’t know about the horrors of Vogon poetry). The Vogon poetry reading will start at 18:30 sharp, at a statue that is popularly known as “The slut in the water”. The statue probably has a real and decent name, but nobody seems to know it in Gävle. After the reading of Vogon poetry, complementing the participants’ lovely towels, taking pictures and enlighting earthings about the Hitchikers Guide to The Galaxy and Douglas Adams, they will go to “Harrys” at 19:00 to drink beer and eat peanuts while waiting for the world to end. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Malmö, the SF Bookshop is opening its new bigger building and gives a 10% discount on booksales to everyone who carries a towel on Towel Day and during the day of the Geek pride parade in Malö. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Härösand, there will be a Towel Day event at the Bittens Rock Bar. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Lund, geocachers have created a cache for Towel Day. To find the correct coordinates, you must know the books. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Örebro, everyone is welcome to join the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy-café! It’s being organized by two geekettes with great taste in books at the ABF (the Workers’ Educational Assocation, Sweden’s largest adult liberal education association). They will serve tea, biscuits and make the café have a feeling from the book. Everyone is welcome and visitors are of course encouraged to wear a towel. The café opens at 18:00 at ABF Örebro, Fredsgatan 18. The H2G2 café is part of a platform they call “Nördkultur” that regularly presents lectures on subjects like RPG, table top, and Harry Potter — From book to movie. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In Västerås, the “Västerås Fandom” will host a Towel Day event at the Bishops arms. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

UNITED KINGDOM

  • In Aberdeen, the day AFTER towel day, geocachers have a short meeting in the Bon-Accord Terrace Gardens from 5.45pm until about 6.30pm (followed by food in The Holburn Bar) to celebrate the life & brains of Douglas Adams and his ever popular trilogy in five parts ‘The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • In Cambridge, ZZ9’s David Haddock will again lead one of his popular and always interesting Douglas Adams tours. Non ZZ9 members were welcome. “Cambridge ZZ9ers will be running a tour of the city on the evening of Towel Day, starting at the Railway Station and ending in town (around 20:00). See where Douglas Adams was born, where he went to University, where the biscuit incident took place, where the TARDIS lands in Shada, and more. Some pubs with Adams connections may be involved.” Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • Also in Cambridge, from 23 May until 29 May, Cambridge University Library will exhibit some of the (over 80) copies of Douglas Adams’ work that they hold in their collections. The display will be in the South Reading Room.
  • In Islington, the Saturday after Towel Day, ZZ9’s David Haddock will lead a Douglas Adams tours. Non ZZ9 members were welcome. “See where Douglas Adams got the inspiration for Fenchurch’s door, and where Hotblack Desiato’s office is, as well as locations from the Dirk Gently books. Plus you can marvel at how in the 21st century you can get a pizza on Upper Street. Finishing where the Arlingtonians lived.” Details and RSVP on Facebook.
  • In London, Whippersnapper Press is having issues with whoosing deadlines this year (happens to the best of us) and will organize their acclaimed Vogon Poetry Slam again, but NOT in time for Towel Day.
  • In or near Swansea, geocachers are having a Towel Day event from 6pm until 6.30pm. The venue is a small hill overlooking Swansea, so bring a folding chair or blanket if you want to sit down. You don’t need to bring a towel and the probability of a passing spaceship is remote. The organizer will look for a nearby pub they can all decamp to after and will update the page when he has more info. Details on Geocaching.com.
  • It’s in fact a 2017 event… but please take note that Lazlar Lyricon 3, a convention for fans of Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy is coming on 9th-11th June 2017! For more info, check out their website.

UNITED STATES