The Free Hugs Concept

It all started in 2001, when an australian dude returned home after spending a few years in London. Once in Sidney he became inreasingly lonely: his parents got divorced, his beloved grandmother was seriously ill and he broke up with his girfriend. Until one day.... he attended a party and suddenly an unknown girl huged him. Accordingly to his own words, it was the best thing which ever happened in his life. And so he went out, to the more crowded street of Sidney and started huging everybody. And he kept doing that in Pitt Mall Street, every Thursdays after lunch.

One day he was filmed by Shimon Moore, who after some editing offered the aussie a DVD with the recording and published it on Youtube. This started the worldwide movement Free Hugs.

The Free Hugs in Prague

Last year, in the same date, the first Free Hugs event happened in Prague. By then a group of Couchserfs met in Starometska and started the huging. This year the event was repeated. By 11:00 people start meeting by the astronomical clock and after a while moved to the center of the square, offering the hugs. At the begining the pedestrians, mainly tourists, were puzzled and hesitating. But after a while there were dozens of hugs beeing offered.

The hugers were basically members of the Couchsurfing community, to many to be listed, but offering an impressive multinational variey. They were from Portugal, Sweden, Italy, France, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, United States, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Turkey, India. And probably more.

Some persons were huged, and after a while they came and ask for a sign and started huging other people. Others were curious about the movement and asked what was this all about. People came for a free hugs with different atitudes: a few came with a serious emotional feeling; others, just for the fun. Some were a little suspicious, while others wanted a photo with the huger.

A policeman was interested in the event. Not as a policeman, but from a personal point of view. He was even tempted to be huged, but then... he was on duty. Meanwhile, some of us went for lunch in a nearby indian vegetarian restaurant. I guess it was then that the best hug happened. I didn't see it but I was told about: a lady in a wheelchair was there, waiting for the return of her group who went visit the tower. She was observing the event with an interested expression, and then Klara approached the lady and asked her if she would like a hug... the lady said "Yes", in a shy manner. And so Klara went down and huged her. A pity this was not depicted.

Approximately four hours after its start the event was concluded. The group headed to La Casa Blu for some food and beer and from there to a beergarden. The weather was basically on our side. Cloudy, ocasionally sunny and only a brief an soft shower.

See Extended Gallery of Pictures for this Event

Further Links

Other gallery with pictures of the event
Movie of Free Hugs Praha 2007
Official (?) Website of Free Hugs movement