“Hug Me!” Flashmob in Moscow Downtown

Moscow’s most famous Arbat street was Sunday flooded with hundreds of happy young people embracing each other and the amazed passers-by as the the hippy-style “Hug Me!” flashmob took place.Participants of the flashmob were told to arrive at the beginning of the street at a certain time carrying a sheet of paper saying “Hug Me!” The aim of the action was to brighten up rainy Russian autumn, organizers said.

Participants were warned not to hug anybody who would seem to mind it, and bring IDs with them, but the action went exactly as planned and without any accidents.

“I thought I would just go and have a look,” one of the participants said afterwards on her personal weblog.

“But then I saw that crowd of boys and girls, all smiling, I realized I could not miss it.”

“I think I was hugged by some 250-300 people!” another participant said.

“And I returned each of the hugs. It was amazing to just hug everybody, people you don’t know at all, give your joy to people.”

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