AFGHANISTAN

• Some people from the US Army Corps of Engineers worked out at the gym and waved towels over their head as they walked back to their compound. Kandahar Airfield will never be the same again!

• In Sydney, the Kinokuniya bookstore once again offered customers who carried a towel a 20% discount on their full-priced book purchases.
• Freja Leonard wrote in an e-mail: "In Melbourne we organised a watery deluge of ironically biblical proportions - a month's rain in a single day - proving simultaneously that it is a tough universe and you should always know where your towel is. It wasn't easy but it was certainly a spectacular success. The rain threw itself at the ground and rarely missed." Freja, we're officially outweirded. Thank you.

• In Bregenz, you could attend "The Arthur Dent Experience". It started at 19:30 o'clock at the "Platz der Wiener Symphoniker", in front of the Bregenzer Festspielhaus. The discussion between Arthur and Mr. Posser in front of the yellow bulldozer was re-enacted AND THERE WAS A YELLOW CAT930 (and peanuts, beer and a bowl of Petunias). Every frood with a towel could feel like Arthur and have a go at lying down in front of this heavy construction machinery. Details and RSVP on Facebook. It was announced and reported on in a local newspaper (circulation 33724). Check out the pictures! Organizer Philipp Horatschek was also interviewed by a radio station.
• In Innsbruck, at 21:00, members of the local hackerspace staged their annual Hackerspace party on Towel Day. There were Pangalaktische Donnergurgler and music was provided by Milicent Ingram, the Phonetics, DJ Badspin und DJ Norbert Unfug. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Vienna, at 17:30 Martin Leyrer celebrated with other twitter users after work at Käuzchen, Gardesgasse 8.

• In Berchem, some hoopy froods had a casual meeting. The venue was Camargue, a relaxed bar. Details and RSVP on couchsurfing.com.
• In Brussels, a group of friends was looking for people to celebrate Towel Day with. Contact: Navid_ega at yahoo.fr

• In São Paulo, there was the annual Marcha Da Toalha! Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• Since the world might end in 2012, Livraria Cultura CasaPark Shopping Center (Brasilia, Brazil) hosted an emergency drill for all galactic hitchhikers who wanted to be ready to hop on the Vogon Spaceships and takeoff before it’s too late! To learn the strategies used by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, the best scenes of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie were watched and a collaborative list of items that must be present in the hitchhiker’s backpack was created. Also, as an "endurance test" they hosted a Vogon Poetry Contest with an special secret prize for the author of the worst verses of the Universe! The Drill was held on May 25th, at 19h23min, and the first 42 attendants to show up carrying a towel received a special gift (button) sent by Megadodo Publications (one of the great publishing houses of Ursa Minor Beta). Details and RSVP on Facebook. This info was also confirmed on the website.
• Grandes Filmes launched a competition and drew one of ten prizes (DVD boxes or book). More
• In Pernambuco, on SUNDAY MAY 27th from 13:00 to 20:00, there was a meet in Livraria da Cultura. There were a lot of speeches about subjects unrelated to Towel Day, like the PotterMore Project, with the PotterFest guys; Conhecendo o Sabre de Luz, with the Conselho Jedi PE; O império Klingon, with Freak Viper; and a lot more. The event had a Diablo III dedicaded national pre-release and finished with a Zombie Walk (with Towels). More

• Kiril Zyapkov and Mariyana Valentinova got married on Towel Day 2012 and had their towels with them! We wish them a happy life together, which should be easy as they clearly know where their towels are.
• All guests staying at Spa hotel Velingrad received a free towel.

• On May 20th, radio station ECFM in Nova Scotia broadcasted an interview about Towel Day with Mark Roberts at 10 am Atlantic Daylight Time, UTC/GMT -3 hours. You can listen to it here:
  Interview Part 1 [3.09 MB mp3]
  Interview Part 2 [3.94 MB mp3]
  You may know Mark from a variety of Towel Day events, including appearances on Canadian TV and in a Colombian radio program. Thank you Mark, you rock!
• The Toronto froods had four flash mobs scheduled at 12:42pm, 2:42pm, 4:42pm and 6:42pm. Each one has a different location and a different activity (laying, swinging, walking, shopping). After the final Flash Mob they met at a pub, Jack Astor's (133 John Street), to have a toast to Douglas. RSVP and details on Facebook.
• In Prince George, BC, there was a Hitchhiker's Read In at Books & Company. They read anything by Douglas Adams from 4:42 pm to 6:42 pm in their Cafe, Cafe Voltaire. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• The Edmonton Science Fiction Appreciation Society met at Remedy Cafe, across from the Garneau theater, at 9:00 pm and talked about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for Towel day then hopped across the street to watch David Lynch's Dune, starting at 11:00.
• In Midland, Ontario, Rusty asked the local library to consider draping a towel, in some "not-too-subtle" subtle location, near their front desk on Friday as a tribute to DNA. He wrote: "Time will tell if the idea will be well received by those in authority... The litmus test: Are they froods or an advance company of Vogons... Weather permitting, my daughter and I will be seated on our towels at the town harbour while playing a round of scrabble."

• In Pardubice, there was a second meetup (flash mob event) for geocachers at the Pernstynske square in front of the town hall, from 16:42-17:15 (CEST). Details on geocaching.com.
• In Prague, the yearly meeting was held at 17:00 at the Letna garden. Vogon poetry was recited from 18:00. More
• The Brno meeting took place as usual at the garden restaurant Plzensky Dvur, at the table marked with a large 42, and started at 17:00. More

• In Copenhagen, at 7:30 pm (19:30) you could join Lise under the great watch at Cph Central Station/Københavns Hovedbanegård wearing her green-grey-white towel and looking chuffed, hoping to meet and celebrate with fellow towelheads! She returned to that spot at 9 pm (21:00) to pick up any previously left behind intergalactic hitchhikers - "let's go for a drink and take it from there!"
• No Towel Day i Vejle concert this year. The organizer attended the Jelling Musikfestival though and proposed to meet other fans with towels at the Status Quo concert at 18.50. Here's a picture.

• In Dubai, Eduan Maggo was looking for people who plan something for Towel Day.

• In Tampere, a Finnish bunch had a towel-meet at restaurant Plevna in the city center. Towels were mandatory. Finnish Towel Day Facebook page. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Turku, for half a decade already, froods have been celebrating Towel Day by reading and writing the worst poetry in the universe in Cosmic Comic Cafe (Facebook page). Customers with a towel got a discount for Pangalactic Gargle Blasters!

• Near Paris, the Grand Ordre de la Serviette and the Don't Panic Club presented an elaborate program, starting at 11.00: h2g2 exhibition, movie viewing, lecture, improv, cosplay, towel beauty contest, another lecture and finally English tea & jelly. At 18.00 the towel olympics 2012 started at the Arènes de Lutèce. Details and RSVP on Facebook. Here's a video!
• In Voiron (Isère), Ulrich and friends walked around the city with custom made Don't Panic towels, ate somewhere between 12:00 and 13:00, talked to people about what the towels are about, and invited thouse who knew the books to join them.

• Newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt ran a short article about Towel Day: "Mit dem Handtuch zur Douglas-Adams-Lesung".
• In Berlin at 19:00, there was the traditional flash mob at the Alexanderplatz. Watch a short video documenting the 2011 edition. Details here.
• Also in Berlin, at 16:00 The Maxim Gorki Theater is opening their Studio space for Towel Day. Fans of the Hitchhiker series will be able to print on their own towel, have a drink together in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe and exchange small intergalactical gifts while having a few pangalaktischen Donnergurglern, make a flight in the WRFS (Weltraumflugsimulator), and visit the towel installation T'O'W'E'L'H'O'U'S'E visit. At 20:15 they can go to the Gorky Studio for a galactic performance, discussion and a lecture. Details in German
• Also in Berlin, at 19:00 beer, peanuts, pangalaktische donnergurgler and total perspective vortex strudel were available at the Zyankali Bar - Institut für Unterhaltungschemie in Berlin. There was a warning about the possibility of Vogon poetry being read. Dresscode: Bademantel & Handtuch. Details
• And if all that wasn't enough, at 20:42 Berliner could also attend the annual Towel Day cocktail competition ("Space-drinc-contest") at the Space Station (Rungestr. 20, 2HH, Mitte, Berlin, Germany, ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha). Details. Photos
• In Salzgitter, cinema "Kultiplex" showed the movie "Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis" at 20:15 p.m. Afterwards a group of people with towels went to a pub where a special cocktail was served (Pangalaktischer Donnergurgler). Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Hamburg, at 19:00, there was meetup for geocachers at the Rathausmarkt in front of the Hamburger Rathaus from 19:00-19:42. Instructions: Facebook and Geocaching.com.
• Also in Hamburg, at 19:30, there was a reading from "The hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" at the Hamburg Planetarium by the actors Tomasso Cacciapuoli and Regina Stötzel. More info.
• And finally in Hamburg, after the reading, there was a Towel Day party at the Kopiba. The froods who organized it, have a website where all images from Twitter tagged #tdhh will end up.
• In Mainz, Gerorg Banek walked around in the streets photographing people with towels.
• Also in Mainz, geocachers met eachother with their towel at a cache and chatted about geocaching, trackables. etc.
• In Dresden, Club HängeMathe hosted an open air projection of the movie "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
• In Hannover, in the pub "Kuriosum", everyone with a towel got a big beer for a small price.
• In Backnang, lounge club DasWohnzimmer listed May 25th's musician as "SilverI"Ron M.F. Jeremy "Towel Day Edition" [mixed].
• In Wiesbaden, you could pick up a free towel at Seibert Media, Luisenforum, Kirchgasse 6, 5th floor, from 4 to 10 pm on May, 25, 2012.
• In Greifswald, around 18 o'clock there was a small gathering of towel-clad fans at the harbor. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Fulda you could come to The Underground. They started at 10pm and had sufficient beer and peanuts to celebrate Towel Day for what could have been the last time (well, its 2012) There were Pangalactic Gargle Blasters and try to improve the art of Vogon poetry. You could get some info from the Hitchhiker's Guide and music from Earth.
• We were warned about a new Sauna opening in Mannheim (Marguerrestr. 11) on Towel Day. Our source wrote "Of course there will be many people with towels, bathrobes and dressing gowns. But I think, most of them must be considered as false positives ;-)".

• In Glyfada, a suburb of Athens, Anima Rock Bar hosted a Towel Night, with home made Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters. Details on Facebook.
• In Athens, a Towel Day party was thrown at Tranzistor cafe-bistrotheque, starting at 10pm. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

• In Budapest at 14:42, Andras Szilagyi and friends had a hitchhiking competition on Towel Day. The destination was Gyor (130km away from Budapest). Meeting point: Budapest, Boráros tér (near the buffets) at 14.42. Start was at 3pm.
• In Budapest at 18:00-18:30 froods had a flash mob involving towels and (surprise!) the number 42. They met at Oktogon in front of the fast food place with the crown. At 18:42 towels were lifted and they went to the usual pub (Tündérgyár) for drinks. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Budapest at 21:00 there was Night Ride tour by bicycle, organized by the Night Riders Team. Everyone was free to participate. Details and RSVP on Facebook. Pictures
• In Pécs, the Minerva Library hosted a meeting from 15:00 to 18:00. The program mentioned a towel beauty contest, towel sports, what towels can be used for, reading from the books of Douglas Adams, the Future, a Vogon poetry competition and a pangalactic gargle blaster.
• In Debrecen, at 18:00, Towel Day was celebrated for the third time. Organizers were the Debreceni Moly Club. Every year they gather in front of the Great Church, carrying towels. This year they sang "So long and thanks for all the fish". Then they had a few drinks and read some Vogon poetry in a local pub. Here's their story (in Hungarian) and a video of their first Towel Day. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

• The Times of India published an article about Towel Day ("Don't panic, just grab a 'towel'!").
• Newspaper The Hindu first ran an article by Prince Frederick titled "Every geek has his day". It was mainly about Geek Pride Day but did mention Towel Day. On May 26th it reported on the Towel Day celebrations in "Those who saw the towels didn't panic".
• IBNlive published two news reports by Kriti Omprakash from New Indian Express: "A day to celebrate for towels" and "Hold on to your towel and raise a toast"/
• In Pune, froods met in Pune at 20:00 (8pm) at Volare on the Baner Pashan Link Road. For one day and one day only pan galactic gargle blasters was be served there. Towels, as expected were mandatory, digital watches were appreciated, a bit of Vogon poetry went down well with the pan galactic gargle blaster. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Bangalore, a number of Douglas Adams fans decided to celebrate Towel Day and their Towel Day Bangalore event on Facebook was bursting with activity. It showed pictures of them painting "Don't Panic" signs, preparing stickers with qr codes and posters that appeared around town. From an Citizen Matters article: "Carry your towel the whole day with you, wherever you go, this Friday May 25. In the evening, from 7.30 PM onwards, walk into a handful of resto-bars and boutique restaurants including The Biere Club, Loveshack, Huckleberry, Herbs n Spice, and many more, and enjoy yourselves with a free Inter Galactic Gargle Blaster. Yes, that’s a killer cocktail. At 1.30 pm, assemble at the Brigade Road McDonalds and watch the festivities for yourself. (in your towel) Register for the event at Towel Day Bangalore Facebook page. Tweet funny anecdotes with the hashtags #dontpanic and #42, upload your pictures with your favorite towel."
• In Mumbai, froods also met. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In New Delhi, froods met too. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• There also was talk about Kokkata and Hyderabat.
• Towel Day India was instrumental in distributing information about all this.

• In Bali, the faithful Douglas Adams fans who celebrated Towel day in 2011 were at it again! They met for drinks at the Kilamantan Restaurant in Sanur. They wrote: "This favourite watering hole is known to ex-pats and locals as "Borneo Bob's" since the owner (originally from Colorado USA) spent a long time living in that side of Indonesia. [...] Preparations are underway to have bigger banners, more Pan Galactic and a load of T shirts [sold out already] complete with our dolphins! If you are visiting Sanur, Bali on the 25th May please join us from 4pm... but don't forget your towel! (Anyway, in paradise, who does not have a towel?)" Pictures

• Towel Day was celebrated at the Bia Bar in Dublin at 7 pm. Details on Facebook.

• Highschool students in Hgimnasiya Hrealit (near Tel Aviv) took their towels to school and during literature class read parts of Douglas Adams' books.

• In Parma there was an annual Towel Day gathering of fans of Douglas Adams. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Bellaria (Rimini), Towel Day was observed at Sticcon, the Star Trek Italian Club Convention. "Don't Panic" towels were sold for charity and the proceeds (305 euros) were added to amount collected by other charity initiatives during the four day long convention. A set of 8 pictures, showing the 8 possible towel uses, were enclosed with all towels. Details and RSVP on Facebook. Here's a photo, with Star Trek Voyager actor Garrett Wang, who liked the Towel Day celebration and asked to join the souvenir picture.
• In Oderzo (Treviso), at 21:21 at the Piazza di Oderzo, intergalactis fans engaged in hand-to-hand-combat. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• On Technocino, Diego Barbera posted an article about Towel Day.

• Edwin van Steenis wrote: "In Atyrau Kazakhstan from 17:30 onwards casual drinks at the Guns and Rose pub. And bring your towel!" Picture

• In Mexico City, from 13:00-17:00 there was Vogon Poetry being recited and you could view the Hitchhiker's Guide movie.

• Anders Ellerstrand wrote from Namibia: "This year towel day is on Africa Day, a national holiday. A lot of people will use this to go camping over the weekend. Towels will be around our shoulders of course." Picture

• Mar's created a geocache in The Netherlands, which went online on May the 25th. See www.geocaching.com.
• In Den Bosch, vegan diner cafe Knoflook celebrated with a special menu: a bowl of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike soup, the Ultimate Pasta Salad of Life, the Universe and Everything, and a Virgin Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster (still 'like having your brain smashed out by a piece of lemon' but this time they didn't wrap it around a large gold brick).

• In Invercargill, the City Libraries website mentioned: "This Friday, here at your public library we are celebrating Towel Day. (...) So come into the library, get some of Douglas Adams' books and see your librarians wearing the 'most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have" a towel.'

• Trillian Amélie [last name omitted] celebrated her second birthday, she was born on Towel Day 2010.
• Froods at public transport company Kolumbus celebrated Towel Day and created a nice video about rfid and towels!
• Bobb Ida Kårte and Leif Anne Arne made clothes out of towels and wore them on Towel Day.

• In Wrocław, Stasiu Grant invited froods to meet him at 15:42 on Wrocław market and prepare together for the end of the world (the year was 2012, after all) in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy style (there were salted peanuts). He wrote "Bring friends! The more people we save the better!" Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Poznan, everyone who came to the Setka pub with a towel, was given a free bitter and peanuts. They were open from 7pm.

• In Timisoara, Couchsurfing community organized a Towel Day meetup. Vogon poetry was not really appreciated, nevertheless they had a great time! Picture

• In Saint-Petersburg, Towel Day was celebrated for the second time. There's a meeting at Dvortsovaja Square. At the time of writing, 96 people had already confirmed their participation! The memory of Douglas Adams is alive and well in Russia! More information
• In Magnitogorsk, Towel Day was celebrated for the first time. An organizer commented "We love Douglas Adams!"
• In Moscow, on MAY 26th (the day after Towel Day), DJ's Mike Spirit and Shandy celebrated their birthday with a party at the Pravda Club. There was a line-up with about two dozens of DJs. Entry was free if you carried a towel. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• Anna Dorodeyko wrote an article on Douglas Adams in Russian for the BBC. She devoted some place in it to Towel Day. (thanks to http://answer42.ru/ for the link)

• In Belgrade, fans of Douglas Adams got together in a park at 18h. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Bečej, bands Spark, Analizator and Test ölt played a concert at Klub Floyd. Entry was free with a towel. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

• In Ljubljana, at Waldorf school, all upper school teachers had lectures with towels around their necks.

• Martinus, the biggest online book retailer in Slovakia, dedicated the whole week to the memory of Douglas Adams (15% off on all his books). They also ran a photo competition in which everybody could win special Don't Panic towels. The different uses of towels were demonstrated spectacularly well by one of their representatives. :-) The submissions for the photo compo were visible on Facebook and many were really funny.

• In Zaragoza, at 18:30 in the Centro Comercial Caracol, the geeky association FrikisZaragoza had a meeting to drink and celebrate Towel Day (Día de la Toalla). They also celebrated Geek Pride Day.
• Jove de Barcelona is a group that creates human towers, a typical cultural sport from Catalonia. On Towel Day they celebrated at 19h with a special training on Plaza Ibiza (Horta). They placed a big banner on their website and asked people to bring their towel.
• DdoOLeR'2012 (Dia do Orgulho Lusista e Reintegrata - Dia Internacional da Toalha) asked their friends to publish pictures of themselves holding towels. Details on Facebook.

• In Härnosönd, froods could celebrate with food and drink in Bittens Rockbar. Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• Teacher Mikael Ekström wrote in Teachers' News ("Lararnas Nyheter") about how he explained Towel Day to his students and how several of them started reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• The SF Bookshop (Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö) offered 10% off on all books to people with towels and sold its famous Don't Panic towels.

• In Zurich, Towel Day was celebrated for the 3rd time! Meeting place was the Polyterrasse of ETH Zurich, at 4 pm. Our contact wrote: "We'll hang around there, inform people about the advantages of (even everyday) carriage of a Towel and you can be assured: Beer will be available, too!" More
• The Fish Inn in Zwingen hosted a Towel Day party with music from music from DJ SlartibartTiny. It started at 20:00. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

• In Izmir there was Towel Day gathering at Alsancak Kordon (a grass plot area near the sea and a small port). Douglas Adams fans brought their towels, played some music, drank, and watched jugglers! Details and RSVP on Facebook.

• Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in the radio series and the TV series, talked about Towel Day on BBC Breakfast! Sidenote: he is performing live in Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live, a tour of the original radio show starring the original cast (video)
• The Independent mentioned Towel Day. How hoopy of them!
• The Telegraph published an article titled "Douglas Adams celebrated by fans worldwide on 'Towel Day'".
• In Cambridge ZZ9 members organized a tour of the city on the evening of Towel Day, starting at the railway station (18:30 for 18:45) and ending at a pub. "See where Douglas Adams was born, where he went to University, where the biscuit incident took place, where the TARDIS landed in Shada, and many more. Then have a drink and find out about Douglas's connection with the Baron of Beef pub." Start: 18:45 at Cambridge Railway Station.Info and RSVP on Facebook or via CambridgeTowelDay at gmail dot com.
• Also in Cambridge: the annual Towel Day celebration at the Elm Tree pub. Not a huge event, but every year a few froods "get together, have a few beers + celebrate the life and works of the great man". Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In London, after last year's storming success, Whippersnapper Press once again hosted a Vogon Poetry Slam, in a shiny new venue. The 2011 grand prize was a bowl of petunias. This year it was a towel. There were two categories: Nerdcore and So-Bad-It’s-Good. There were prizes. There were hoopy froods. There was an unnecessarily bureaucratic voting system. Details and RSVP on Facebook. You can also find info on Whippersnapper Press' website.
• In Edinburgh, at 6 pm fans marched along the royal mile in dressing gowns with towels and cups of tea. More Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Worcester, NOT on Towel Day but on May 30th, the 42 open mic night staged the event "Vogonesque II". Last year's "Vogonesque" open mic night was a huge success and the organisers decided to make it an annual event. Featuring some of the best contemporary writers and performance poets working in the genre arena, the night saw appearances by Andrew Owens, Jackie Summers, Craigus Barry and Ed Steelfox, Geoff Robinson, Suz Winspear, Michael. R. Brush, Fergus McGonigal, William Shatspeare, David Calcutt and Wolfren Riverstick. The fame of this event held in Worcester spread as far as the Crab Nebula, where tickets were sold in advance in order to secure geostationary orbit parking places. Residents of the planet Earth needed not worry about this, as they had an unfair advantage, and simply needed to climb the stairs to The Lunar Bar above The Swan With Two Nicks public house where the event was held. More here and on Facebook.
• Glasgow had a flash mob. The plan was to turn up at Forbidden Planet on Buchanan Street just before 6PM closing. At the strike of 6 Lance cried "Don't Panic!" and, to the tune of "happy birthday", all sang: Happy Towel Day to you, Happy Towel Day to you, Happy Towel Day fellow Hitchhikers, Happy Towel Day to yoooo! Three cheers for the hoopy froods, then dispersed to the call of "So long and thanks for all the fish!" On Towel Day around 13:20 already 47 people had confirmed their participation! Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In York, according to The Press "staff at the Grand Opera House are prepared for anything today - such as making an emergency hitchhike on a passing interplanetary ship as the Earth is destroyed. They all have their towels with them, marking Towel Day, instituted in 2001 in honour of Douglas Adams, who died that year."
• The hoopy froods at Thales e-Security held a sponsored Towel Day for their staff this year. All funds raised from the event were to be donated to the Alzheimer’s Society (The Thales sponsored charity this year). Participants donated to partake; non-participants were to be fined for not knowing where their towel is. They had a Just Giving page for the event.
• Ken Nicholas organized the annual Towel Day picnic in Horsham Park (West Sussex) for the Horsham Actuaries and friends. It was a bring your own lunch affair, at which the actuarial team made up the mainstay, but the invitation was now extended to all and sundry and they had people coming from all over the company. This year was made clearer that you should bring a towel. Last year there was some confusion as to what the phrase "towel day picnic" was about and someone brought a blankie.
• The library at St Cuthbert's Catholic High School (United Kingdom) was counting down to Towel Day, with a quote every day. Towels were proudly displayed on the glorious day.
• Alex, Millie and Mollie persuaded the school librarian to let them celebrate Towel Day at school (Friary School in Lichfield). They designed and created a big display board and on Towel Day some teachers who are Douglas Adams fans read out some extracts to people assembled in the library.
• Helen Wesson from Birmingham got "Don't Panic" and "42" tattoos.
• At Hospiscare, a local charity in Devon, mascot "Lottie" changed her name for the day to "Lottie-dent" and encouraged everyone at the hospice to grab a towel!
• At AudioGO, formerly known as BBC Audiobooks, their complete range of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy CD and Download titles was for one day only available at 42% off - direct from their website.

• Jessica and Joseph got married on Towel Day and everyone in the party received a towel instead of flowers! The towels ended up being rather useful (of course!). The groom used it to wipe away some tears. The photographer (Jamie) used it to dry off a flash cover that fell into some water. They also used them to perch on and lean against. We wish them a long and happy life together!
• On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow mentioned Towel Day and added "Don’t panic if you don’t know what that is. That’s actually a joke specifically for people who know what Towel Day is." (thank you, James Lyons Walsh from The Daily Coinflip!)"
• Gregory Cowles informed the The New York Times readership about Towel Day in his May 11 Sunday Book Review. Thank you, Mr Cowles!
• Attending Phoenix Comicon on Towel Day? Lots of you probably were! You could meet Terra and others there, and "celebrate in style"! Details on Facebook and twitterers could RSPV on Tweetvite.
• The Minnesota State University-Moorhead Planetarium (Moorhead, Minnesota) planned a special live planetarium show in the evening as a guide to the galaxy. They looked at the night sky, the Milky Way, fly past some planets, and zoom out of the Milky Way to learn about our galaxy. A Vogon Poetry contest could follow. Attendees wielding towels got 50% off admission. More info
• In Dover, NH, fans met to celebrate Towel Day at La Festa Brick and Brew Pizzeria. Organizer Sam Ronda added "This may possibly be the first time for Dover, NH". Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Ukiah, CA, you could hang out with friendly hitchhikers at a BBQ in a public park and listen to the radio show. "This will be kid friendly, pet friendly and towel friendly. [...] It's just about hanging out but if you want to bring some Guide themed anything please do! :D [...] Once we're done at the park there will be an after party at my place (I live one block away) where there will be a viewing of the film." Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Des Moines, IA, "the unofficial, official Towel Day celebration was at the Royal Mile bar. Show up carrying your towel and say hi to all the other hoopy froods who do the same. Starting at 4:30 PM and going until whenever!"
• The Sandbaggers Game Club of Great Falls, MT hosted an Intergalactic Towel Day party at MisCon 26: A Fairy Tale on Friday May 25. A MisCon 26 badge wass required to attend, but otherwise, all were welcome! Details and RSVP on Facebook.
• In Birmingham, NY, taters343 was looking for people to celebrate Towel Day with. If you were in that area, we recommended you to talk to him on Reddit!
• In NYC, RobairRobair was looking for interested people. He's on Reddit.
• In Salem, MA, Mike's Museum, LLC, held its second annual towel collection for the animal shelter at Front Street Coffee House on May 25. Petunias were given to the first 100 donors.
• In Houston, TX, craft beer bar "Petrol station" celebrated Towel Day for the third time. Happy hour all night, as long as you had your towel!
• In Magnolia, TX, Max Beeman wanted to have people at high school carry towels. He made a video explaining what Towel Day is about, that played around school inside each class room for announcements.
• In Birmingham, AL, Pathways - a nonprofit that provides services to homeless women and children - celebrated Towel Day with an impromptu towel drive. They have a Day Center where women living in emergency shelters and the streets can come get a daily shower, but we are often low on towels and washcloths to provide them.
• In Tyler, TX, the University of Texas had a small Towel Day display on the 3rd floor of the Robert R. Muntz Library. And Tlemaistre2 blogged about Towel Day on the library's website.
• In Bothell, WA, the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine was offering $10 off veterinary exams on Towel Day if you came in wearing a towel on the 25th. If you procrastinated, you could get a $5 coupon if you wore your towel on the 26th, instead. If your name was, or was an anagram for "Zaphod", "Trillian" or "Ford Dent", you got an exam for free!
• Paula D. Matthews, Stanford Calderwood Director and Librarian wrote in the May 2012 Newsletter of the Boston Athenaeum (a membership library that dates back to 1807) about Towel Day. In "From the Director's Desk", she informs her readers about what Towel Day, Douglas Adams and towels are all about. Thank you!
• In CA, Ken Sipes and his online radio program Behind the Curtain celebrated Towel Day by inviting people to participate in Operation Blankets of Love and other animal welfare projects.
• Jen Henley and a coworker held a towel drive at their workplace to collect towels to distribute to area animal shelters. She wrote: "The shelters use the towels as comfortable bedding for the animals, and also for bathing and cleanup. This seemed like a nice way to observe Towel Day -- I think Douglas Adams would have approved (read )."
• Animeggroll, an anime Store in St. Louis, MO, had a towel drive for the local Crestwood animal shelter. On May 25th, 2012 with a donation of a towel (it must not have holes or frayed edges as the animals can get caught up in them) or a roll of paper towels they gave 20% off any one new item in the store that day (even kimonos). They were also be accepting donations of these needed items for the shelter: Dry Purina dog and cat food, Pedigree canned dog food, 9 Lives canned cat food, dog and cat treats, Regular cat litter, rawhide chews, cat toys, and used dog & cat beds, collars & leashes in good condition. Cleaning supplies, paper towels were also always needed.
• Scott Wilson drove from Charlotte, N.C. to Ohio to spend the holiday with the woman he intends to marry, and wanted to take a picture of his towel at every state line he crossed along the way! He took along his beloved's very first copy of the Guide.
• In Talhassee, FL, the Fermentation Lounge raised a pint in honour of the late Douglas Adams and collected towels for the Leon County Humane Society to help out some furry friends.
• At a school in Maryland, the class recognized Towel Day. The teacher allowed the students to bring in small towels to show how much they enjoyed the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series. Some really got into it and decorated their towel. It was also fortuitous that Towel Day occured on the same day a field-day tug-o-war was taking place, some used the towel to their advantage. They demonstrated the uses of the towel by using it as a barrier between them and Tug-O-War rope to prevent against so-called 'Rope Burn'. Others used it as a way to cheer their team on in the challenge (by waving it around and yelling encouragement).
• In New York, NY, at 22:00, there was a free Towel Day/Memorial Day/birthday concert with Space/psychedelic/60s style garage bands. Details and RSVP on Facebook.

• Zaxley Nash, formerly known as Frank Eckstrom, won the Towel Day Ambassador contest. He will be an excellent successor to the very charming Ms Deena Roth. Towelday.org trusts that he will be devoted to the cause and make the universe safer and slightly more surreal! Our sincere congratulations to Frank for his well-deserved title and to the organizers. Some of his achievements: he got a "Don't Panic" tattoo last year, he created the "Galactic Hitchhikers" group, he and his brother made Milliways in Second Life and organized a Towel Day event there, etc. Here's the short video Frank submitted for the contest.
• Polly Jane Rocket Adams (Douglas Adams' daughter) launched a Towel Day competition! She also posted a picture of herself with her towel.
• Stephen Fry tweeted "Weather so good for #towelday - use it to spread it on the grass, mop your brow, stuff it down his mouth if a Vogon starts reciting poetry..."
• James Thrift, Douglas' half brother, tweeted "People of Earth, Don't Panic, it's Towel Day! #towelday"
• Sue Adams aka suze42, Douglas' sister, tweeted "Don't forget your towel. Happy Towel Day to all"
• Winsey Willis tweeted about Towel Day and posted a photo on which she poses with the towel Douglas Adams gave her!
• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live, a tour of the original radio show starring the original cast (video), joined the Towel Day celebrations by organizing a competition. They asked everone to send them a picture of their towel before May 25th, 16:20 GMT, telling them where it was taken. By doing so, you automatically entered a competition to win a very special prize. All of the photos were going to be displayed on an interactive map, so everyone could see how useful and important a towel really is, no matter where it is in the galaxy!
• The Literary Platform hosted an international competition inviting creatives to produce an animation that illustrates an audio recording of Douglas Adams talking in 1993 about the Evolution of the Book, from the ‘hardware problems’ of writing on rocks, to scrolls, to the bound book and finally the silicon chip.
  The public could vote for animations that were then put on a shortlist, from which jury members Stephen Fry, Bob Stein (SocialBook, Inc), Ranjit Dhaliwal (The Guardian) and Merlin Nation and Chris Angelkov (Atyp) the chose a winner. Congratulations to the winners: Eleanor Stokes, a self-taught animator from Eugene, Oregon who won first prize, congratulations! Runners up, who did a great job too: Andy Little (UK), Mike Belgrave (UK), Gavin Edwards (UK), Johanna Aulen (Finland).
• Like every year, talented graphics artist Travis Avery offered free Towel Day themed wallpapers for your computer, tablet or phone. Thanks, Travis!
• The hoopy designers at lemon.ly, a visual marketing firm that specializes in infographics and data visualization, created an infographic about Towel Day. Get it here and read their post about it.
• Dutch Web design agency Q42 ran a towel give-away.
• In Second Life, Towel Day was once again observed:
  "Milliways in Second Life is back! Returning for our 3rd Annual Towel Day Celebration this year with an all new build, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe has never looked so good! Milliways is open just for the month of May for general hanging about and casual roleplay, but will culminate on the 25th for our Towel Day Extravaganza. We have a host of entertainment lined up for the big day, returning from last year our headliners Suzan Littlething and DJ Gilliam will be performing live. As is tradition we have an assortment of freebies ,t-shirts, Hitchhikers Guides, and Towels for those who might have lost theirs. Don’t miss the best party of the year in SL!
  Visit Milliways: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Extropia%20Core/51/16/2508"
  
• Also in Second Life, Uccello Poultry created a free Towel Day 2012 towel.
• And also in Second Life, every Towel Day cartoonist Garrett Williams put his Don’t Panic towel on display at Kennyland. The towel is always available for free in the freebies cart, but on the special day, he made it available by itself, as well. You could lay down on it right next to the other towels on the beach & click the rolled-up version at the head of the towel to get one of your own. You can visit Kennyland on Second Life here. Update: he scattered the Don’t Panic towels around the beach, and even put one on the soup bowls ride. You could actually ride the soup bowls ride on a Don’t Panic towel!
• On Towel Day 2012 a group of Students from Exeter and Falmouth (The Falmouth and Exeter Light Entertainment and Drama Society or 'Feccles') released the first episode of their radio adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The programme was available for download worldwide, so there was no excuse to miss out! Keep up with their efforts via Facebook.
• Gbanga, the Swiss-made location based game for iPhone/iPad, celebrated Towel Day with three very special cross-dimensional quests. Gbanga combines a virtual world with reality, allowing you to explore a hidden dimension using just your mobile phone (and a towel). Players were invited to accomplish three geo-based missions: the Strag Quest, A Towel Is All You Need, and All You Need Is A Towel, which had to require relocation to various parts of the universe, and the use of various hitchhiking skills. The Towel Day Journey took place between May 23 - June 5.
  Gbanga is free to play on iPhone and iPad, the plans are on display at: www.gbanga.com/towelday
• Before Douglas Adams died, he wrote Shada, a Doctor Who adventure, which was completed by Gareth Roberts. AudioGO, the home of BBC audiobooks, now released a 10 CD set audiobook and gave away five CD sets on h2g2.com during the two weeks leading up to Towel Day.
• Jonathan Mahood drew a special Bleeker comic for Towel Day! http://bleekercomics.com/comics/may-25-2012/
• Matt designed a "Towel Day Awareness" t-shirt, which was to be printed if enough people voted for it. (on May 27th it had 180 votes)
• Geocachers could find Towel Day themed caches on http://www.geocaching.com. You needed to create an account and search under the tab 'play' -> 'hide & seek a cache' -> 'by cache name' -> type: Towel Day to find caches and events organised in different countries all over the world. (thank you Mar's for the tip)
• In 2010, Towel Day became an official holiday in the Military Republic of the Deltan Imperium, a newly formed micronation. The project didn't last, but it's successor, the Terran Federation, now also adopted Towel Day as an official holiday.
• Davros-10 hosted a challenge on Bookcrossing to release as many books by Douglas Adams as possible on 25 May.
• For Towel Day Urban Threads offered a free downloadable "Don't Panic" embroidery design. Magnoliafly used it, you could admire the result on Reddit.
• PeopleTowels, makers of reusable personal hand towels, created a limited edition towel that you could win by participating in their contest that ran from May 14th until Towel Day.
• In online radio program Behind the Curtain, Ken Sipes talked about Towel Day and ways people celebrate it.
• Spraypaint created a free Towel Day wall paper for Android
• DL Morrese, author of the Warden Novels, blogged about Towel Day and wrote:
  Towel Day is fairly obscure, if you are judging it based on reality, but, as Douglas Adams reminds us in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, "reality is frequently inaccurate."
• Spanglishforgringos.com published a spiffy Towel Day cartoon. And El Gringo Jefe assured us that "Friday we will be sitting at our desk wearing nothing but a towel".
• At RetroMetro all bathroom products were 20% off in celebration of Towel Day. The offer was good until June 1st. The discount was already applied to the eligible items so no codes needed or anything.
• The Big Society has composed and performed a song for Douglas Adams. Preliminary version
• Matt Millard contributed "some previously undiscovered Vogon poetry as written by Arthur Dent".
• Moxie Magnus, chief cosmetologist of the USS Enterprise, created a funny video about the religions derived from the work of Douglas Adams. More from her.
• Code 42 Software, makers of backup solutions, ran two competitions (one on Twitter, one on Facebook) with which you could win towels with the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything on it.
• Over at Paperbackswap, Donnie S. wrote about how his towel saved his life. Well, kind of. The post ended with: "Note from Blog Coord: We are running this a day early so everyone has time to get their towels picked out, washed, dried, fluffed and folded for tomorrow. If anyone has towel protocol questions or needs some help choosing a towel to go with a certain outfit, leave a comment here and we will be glad to help!"
• Mona Curtis featured Towel Day in her Facebook group "365 Holidays a Year".
• Torsten Adair wrote a long post about Towel Day for The Beat, news blog of comics culture.
• Examiner.com published articles by Linda Gentile and Claire Thalken.
• Geeks are Sexy posted "Interstellar Hitchhikers, Rejoice: It’s #TowelDay!"
• Hannah Freeman wrote a Towel Day post for the Books blog of The Guardian, ending with: "We on the books desk are of course celebrating this day with our towels draped around our shoulders. We're encouraging Twitter followers to tweet us their Towel day photos, and we invite you to use this open thread to post your favourite lines from any Douglas Adams books. All that remains is for us to ask, do you know where your towel is?"
• Lauren Miliotis from The Guardian created a quiz Towel Day quiz: how well do you know the Hitchhiker's Guide?
• Mark Loggins spent Towel Day in the studio recording a new album with his band, Electric Monk, named after the character in "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency".
• Over at wired.com, Sophie Brown was on a roll and made four posts: "Happy Towel Day from GeekMom!", Towel Day: 42 Occurrences of The Number 42 in Pop Culture, Towel Day: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Live Onstage and Towel Day: The Etsy Shopper’s Guide to The Galaxy.
• On About.com, Richard Nordquist posted some things you might not yet know about Douglas Adams in "Towel Day Special: Douglas Adams on Writing".
• On BBC America, Fraser McAlpine published "Happy Towel Day: 25 Douglas Adams quotes to live by".
• Several YouTube users posted great videos, like ConfusedSeagull, Colouredpants and his mom, DietRedThunder1 and NerdVsWorld.
• There was a Towel Day comic at Strange Quark.
• "Happy Towel Day" claimed the number one spot in the "trending in search" component on the Orange homepage, as a frood who works there was happy to tell us.
• The Pan MacMillan homepage featured Douglas Adams' books. You could click on a DON'T PANIC button to access a 42% discount.
• BBC Radio 4 tweeted about Towel Day.
• PC Mag tweeted about Towel Day.
• Penguin Books tweeted about Towel Day.
• Adult movie star Kylie Ireland posted a Towel Day picture (some mild nudity) and added: "As all hoopy froods know, 2day is 'Towel Day'. Have a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster & celebrate! #ThankYouDouglaAdams"
• Her male colleague Ryan Driller also posted a picture (mild nudity), tweeting: "#TrueStory I always keep a towel in my car because of #DouglasAdams #TowelDay (thanks @grok_ ) http://lockerz.com/s/211771933"
• LifeIsSavage, "Home of the good times", ran a photo competition awarding a R500 gift voucher to the lucky winner.
• On Science 2.0, David Brin posted From Towel Day To SpaceX And Transparency Grenades
• On ArsTechnica, Curt Hopkins wrote a post Celebrating author Douglas Adams: it's Towel Day!
• On MetaFilter, tilde wrote a hilarious post on towels and the history of American space exploration.
• On BookRiot, Jeff posted The 42 Best Lines from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Series.
• Coincidence or not? On Towel Day 2012 The Prudential Center and the New Jersey Devils will be giving out upwards of 12000+ towels to their fans to swing over their heads and to wipe the beer off their faces as they play the New York Rangers in the 6th game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
• Slate published a post called "Towel Day and Geek Pride Day: Raise Your Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster in Honor of Douglas Adams"
• Anthony Fertino from Santa Monica, CA, completed a 150 page novel first-draft and partly dedicated it to the man who helped him find his sense of humour and inspired the tone of the story: Douglas Adams.
• The SuicideGirls observed Towel Day.
• At MSN News, Matt Bradfield posted about Towel Day.
• At Gizmodo, Brian Barrett posted "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Some Mostly Harmless Fun".
• Web comic The Temple, was replaced by a special picture for Towel Day.
• In Catalyst Magazine, Alice Bain published Outside the Box: Towel Day.
• In the Puzzlepirates forum, Dexla ran a drawing contest.
• At Yahoo News, Adam Parris-Long wrote "Happy Towel Day: Douglas Adams remembered across the world".
• At Tested.com, Jamie and Adam talked about Towel Day and Douglas Adams in their weekly show. And Will Smith wrote "Why I love the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
• At Kartoen.be, Jeroen made a Towel Day cartoon.