Hundreds of young people are expected to descend on a local park in Medellin on Sunday in nothing but their underwear as a statement of free expression and nonconformity.
Medellin’s River Park (Parque del Rio) will be the site of the “No Pants Day” demonstration, which has been put to various uses in a number of countries across the world, according to the event’s original organizers.
Attributed to New York’s “Everywhere” improvisation troop, No Pants Day was started in 2002 as a self-described prank that has since “grown into an international celebration of silliness, with dozens of cities around the world participating each year”.
According to Everywhere, the event now has a foothold in 60 cities spread across over 25 countries.
A local citizen, Sebastian Garcia, is coordinating the Medellin version, saying he wants the demonstration to have a meaning that goes beyond “silliness.” Garcia told radio station Caracol that the event is “a message to those people who judge by what is on the outside when it is what is on the inside that matters.”
Attempts to put on the event last year were almost foiled, when police intervened on the grounds of public and moral decency. The demonstration went ahead, however, with hundreds of young people marching to Bello Park in northern Medellin.
This year’s No Pants Day will begin Sunday, 2pm, at the River Park in Medellin’s Ciudad del Rio neighborhood.
Sources
- No pants subway ride (Improv Everywhere)
- Este domingo Medellin no usara pantalones (Radio Santa Fe)
- Medellin tendra su dia ‘sin pantalones’ (El Espectador)
- El domingo, Medellin celebrara el dia sin pantalones (Radio Caracol)