Hundreds of people hug in the centre of Minsk (photo report)
An action “Free Hugs” took place in the capital on Saturday. Hundreds of people were hugging passers-by and inspired everyone with optimism.
FREE HUGS took place not far from Yakub Kolas square in Minsk on Saturday. Everyone who wanted to hug passers-by and share their good mood with them on a grey winter day could join in: the grey city was filled with smiles and even the sun appeared in the cloudy sky!
The game has been popular on our planet for quite a long time (http://freehugscampaign.org/). The idea of FREE HUGS is simple: hug a stranger and share you good mood with them as sincere hugs are necessary as the breath of life. There have been several events like this in Belarus but it was the first mass one. A group “In contact” was created and about 1200 potential participants joined it over a week.
Yauhen Kantsavy, an organizer: “About 1200 people registered in the group and I think about 100 or 200 of them did come. It was not the first event but it was the first mass event. It can be considered a dress rehearsal of the International Day of Hugs that will be celebrated on January 21!”
Guys and girls gathered near the Philharmonic Society at 2 p.m., got hold of posters “Free hugs!”, hugged one another, divided into several groups and separated: one group went to Kamarouski Market, another – to “Impulse” and so on. The groups changed a few hours later to avoid standing in the same spot.
Yura Danskou, a participant (commenting in a group): “Cool people! I can’t hug everyone but I am trying to! Our group has hugged all sellers and policemen, I have been scolded thrice and 4 people have approached me and asked for hugs! I am happy!”
Join the group http://vkontakte.ru/club6490197 and the lj-community http://community.livejournal.com/by_hugs/ : we will be hugging people again on January 21!
FREE HUGS took place not far from Yakub Kolas square in Minsk on Saturday. Everyone who wanted to hug passers-by and share their good mood with them on a grey winter day could join in: the grey city was filled with smiles and even the sun appeared in the cloudy sky!
The game has been popular on our planet for quite a long time (http://freehugscampaign.org/). The idea of FREE HUGS is simple: hug a stranger and share you good mood with them as sincere hugs are necessary as the breath of life. There have been several events like this in Belarus but it was the first mass one. A group “In contact” was created and about 1200 potential participants joined it over a week.
Yauhen Kantsavy, an organizer: “About 1200 people registered in the group and I think about 100 or 200 of them did come. It was not the first event but it was the first mass event. It can be considered a dress rehearsal of the International Day of Hugs that will be celebrated on January 21!”
Guys and girls gathered near the Philharmonic Society at 2 p.m., got hold of posters “Free hugs!”, hugged one another, divided into several groups and separated: one group went to Kamarouski Market, another – to “Impulse” and so on. The groups changed a few hours later to avoid standing in the same spot.
Yura Danskou, a participant (commenting in a group): “Cool people! I can’t hug everyone but I am trying to! Our group has hugged all sellers and policemen, I have been scolded thrice and 4 people have approached me and asked for hugs! I am happy!”
Join the group http://vkontakte.ru/club6490197 and the lj-community http://community.livejournal.com/by_hugs/ : we will be hugging people again on January 21!
