Urban playground antics and the redefining of public spaces

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion about the loss of public space and the means by which citizens reclaim it by examining the antics of the urban playground movement’s large-scale public pillow fight events. The phenomenon of the public pillow fight is analysed in terms of playful movements that have preceded them, theoretical implications of play as an important human engagement, and the author’s own participation in the International Public Pillow Fight Day in Boston, 2009. This article contends that public pillow fights are a significant event for redefining public space through play.