Blagh organized a "Towel swap" for froods who want to exchange towels. (participants had sign up before 18 May)
Miss Woolly Knits made knitted multicoloured towels, reminiscent of Roosta's towel that was soaked in nutrients: (from the Guide) "The yellow stripes are high in protein, the green ones have vitamin B and C complexes, the little pink flowers contain wheatgerm extracts." Zaphod took and looked at it in amazement. "What are the brown stains?" he asked. "Bar-B-Q sauce," said Roosta, "for when I get sick of wheatgerm." Zaphod sniffed it doubtfully. Even more doubtfully, he sucked a corner. He spat it out again."Ugh," he stated. "Yes," said Roosta, "when I've had to suck that end I usually need to suck the other end a bit too." "Why," asked Zaphod suspiciously, "what's in that?" "Anti-depressants," said Roosta.
On Towel Day geocacher DNA created a cache called Towel Day in Ontario.
CHINA
A certain "Rebecca" claimed in the shoutbox "I'M BRINGING TOWEL DAY TO CHINA. they're pretty dang hoopy over here." but this entry seems to have been deleted later on. Okay, who will really bring Towel Day to China next year?
CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague and in Brno were the places to be. Vogon poetry may have been recited.
Dietmar Tallroth, General Counsel at Symbian Foundation, knows his classics and blogged about Towel Day.
Symbian must be about the hoopiest company in the world! They organized a Towel Day cruise and attendants received "Don't panic" towels! Some pictures are available.
FRANCE
Nicolas Botti and his hoopy friends of the Grand Ordre de la Serviette ("Grand Order of the Towel") invited hitchhikers to gather in Paris at the Gare du Nord around 20:30. Meeting point was a monumental sculpture that bears some resemblance to "Deep thought". It was used for a re-enactment of the scene where Deep Thought reveals the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. Botti is well-known for having produced a French version of the radio play and is the go-to person for all things h2g2 in France.
Ralf Holly and friends traveled from Munich to the spot in Innsbruck (Austria) where Douglas Adams had the idea for a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. What used to be a camping site turned out to have become a home for the elderly with a green area and a playground. Coordinates: 47°16'33.79" N, 11°25'24.61" E.
Mathias-Emanuel Hartmann has hitchhiked from the German village of Rambin to London Highgate Cementery, to visit the grave of Douglas Adams, with nothing but his bathrobe, a copy of the guide and his towel. He has blogged his adventure. While in Belgium, he was briefly suspected of being an escaped lunatic due to his bathrobe and the vicinity of a psychiatric hospital. His visit to the grave became extra special by the appearance of a mysterious girl who somehow expressed great tenderness towards Douglas, deeply moving Mathias. He would like to find out who she is.
Mexer, a professional illustrator and graphic designer from Düsseldorf made this illustration.
The children from Waldkindertagesstätte Knechtsteden (a day-care centre) brought their towel on Towel Day!
GREECE
James Spanos has released a computer game for Towel Day. A review deems it "very worthy of your time" and praises its authentic feel.
Tyche's Games were offering customers who have their towel with them 10% off their (non-snack) purchases.
HUNGARY
In Budapest a group gathered at the Deák Ferenc tér at 6:00pm. Here's a picture, looks like a fun bunch!
In Szeged the 3rd annual Towel Beauty Contest was held. Here are some pictures
ISRAEL
A number of "wanna-be galactic hitchhikers" got together at the Technion, a tech-oriented university. They had fancy towels and, judging from this picture, a lot of fun.
Anna Vais wore a towel on her head, not alone at home but also in the street. You go girl.
ITALY
Hitchhikers were invited to meet at the Midgard - Midgart Culture and art club in Naples from 12:00am-11:55pm.
JAPAN
A Japanse blogger has posted about Towel Day. Did you know the Hitchhiker's Guide has been translated into Japanese?
No events known events in Romania, but there was at least one seriously motivated fan there: Vlad Iliescu had replaced the contents of his homepage by large friendly letters saying: TODAY IS TOWEL DAY - DO NOT PANIC (in Romanian).
SLOVAKIA
A meetup was planned in the beautiful city of Trnava at the Trojicne namestie at 8:00pm.
SWEDEN
In Göteborg, Malmö and Stockholm the SF Bookshop celebrated Towel Day, as they do every year. In the past they attracted quite a bit of attention with their beautiful Don't Panic towels, which you can still buy if you understand Swedish.
The day before Towel Day, Panzeranzi released into the wild a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide, outside the SF Bookshop in Göteborg. It was found by Laroche, who states that he will read it and then let it travel again. Bookcrossing is a great way to share books with the rest of the world!
A group of enthousiastic Swedes celebrated at Pappa Grappa and drank Pan-galactic Gargle Blasters (pictured). One of them commented "I would gladly work over christmas to get this time off. Hat off and towel high."
The ashes of Kojv (Tobbe Landin) were buried on Towel Day.
SWITZERLAND
The Fish Inn in Zwingen welcomed hitchhikers from 8:00pm-2:00am.
UNITED KINGDOM
A merry group met in Plymouth in the Chestnut tree cafe at 7:30pm to watch the BBC series and drink Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters
Pan Macmillan, British home to Douglas Adams' work, organized an exclusive competition to support Towel Day and the 30th anniversary of The Hitchhiker's Guide. There were over two hundred entries. Sincere congratulations to the winners! Some of the winning images can be viewed here.
ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society, linked to this site and we appreciate. They publish "Mostly Harmless", a quarterly magazine full of hitchhikery things, organize hoopy events and have their own custom towels. Membership is worthwhile.
Ian Pouncey created IsItTowelDay.com. Handy if you want to be really, really sure whether or not it's Towel Day. Towel Day is serious business you know.
USA
CmdrTaco knows where his towel is and posted a Towel Day front page article on Slashdot, the website about "News for nerds, stuff that matters".
New Yorker "ItsFinallyHere" announced "I'm going to Apple Store 5th Avenue wearing a towel! find me!!" We suppose he really meant "carrying a towel" :-)
Wired's GeekDad team posted a terrific article, as they do every year.
In Denver, CO, Mo was having happy hour with other Douglas Adams loving ape descendents.
In Santa Cruz, CA, a small group met from 4:00pm-7:00pm for readings from the book, eating and drinking appropriate beverages.
Impatient froods from New Londen, CT celebrated Towel Day a day early but apropriately. They watched the Original BBC version of the Hitchhikers Guide on a big screen, talked about what this series of books meant to them, their favorite scenes from the books and answered questions from newcomers.