Fans mark the life and work of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy author Douglas Adams today

Today is Towel Day, when fans of Douglas Adams celebrate the life and work of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy around the world.

Of course the Covid-19 pandemic has forced events online, although that also makes each more accessible wherever you might be.

In the UK, more than eight hours of celebrations – including stand-up, readings and a quiz –  have been lined up, starting at 1.30pm, and run in conjunction with Save The Rhino International.

Adams was passionate about wildlife and in 1985 travelled the world, seeking out endangered species, resulting in the Last Chance To See BBC radio series. He became a founder patron of Save the Rhino in 1994, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in rhino costume in the same year

Other events around the work include a book reading from New York at 10:10:10am local time (3.10pm BST) as that coincides with the crucial number 42 in binary, and a bad Vogon poetry contest from Turku, Finland. 

Towel Day began on May 25,  2001, two weeks to the day after Adams died aged 49, after a workout at a gym in California

Here is the full timetable of today’s events. Unless otherwise stated, they are from the UK event co-ordinated by comedian Rachel Wheeley, which can be viewed here. All times in BST.

1.30pm
UK: Rachel Wheeley Escapes from Hitchhiker’s Hell Part One. Professional comedians, actors and a horror scholar star in an adult fantasy podcast set in a Dungeon’s and Dragons’ world. In this episode, Rachel Wheeley must escape from a Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy inspired ‘hell’

2.30pm
UK: H2G2 Text Game Play Through. A Hitchhiker’s newbie, David, will play the text based Hitchhiker’s Guide computer game from 1984.

3.10pm
USA: Jessica Kane reads from Douglas Adams' work, at 10:10:10 in her local time   (101010 is binary for 42). On Facebook Live

4pm
UK: Rachel Wheeley Escapes from Hitchhiker’s Hell PART TWO

5pm
UK: The Rhino Who Climbed Kilimanjaro. Screening documentary about the 1994 rhino walk in which Adams and others climbed the mountain.
Finland:  Cosmic Comic Cafe's annual bad poetry contest starts in Turku. Watch on Facebook.

6pm
UK: Virtual Douglas Adams tour of Islington, with David Haddock, former president of ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the official Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy appreciation society. 

6.30pm
UK: Arvind Ethan David – The Book That Changed My Life – Q&A with the writer and producer of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

6.42pm
Germany: Celebrations start organised by C-base, a hackerspace - or workspace for tech bods - in Berlin, which is designed to look like a crashed space station. Fans will share favourite passages, photos on more via the videoconferencing platform Jitsi. While the event website offers a  recipe for a suitable cocktail, the pandemic-pangalactic thunder gurgler 

7pm
UK: The Quiz at the End of the Universe

8pm
UK: Rachel Wheeley: Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster Mix-Along
Italy: Mostly Harmless, a band from Sanremo, made up of Adams fans, will be performing on Facebook Live.
UK: YouTuber and Twitch streamer Peter Almond will  playing the text adventure, with his patrons calling the shots. Watch on his Twitch channel.

Brazil: Fans discuss all things Hitchhikery via YouTube.

8.10pm
UK: Steve Cross: Investigative Journalism. A look at the scientific ideas behind Adams’ work

8.20pm
UK: Angus Dunican: Entry from the Guide Other People. The stand-up presents an entry of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy(in the style of Peter Jones on the subject of ‘other people’.

8.30pm
UK: Katie Overstall & The Story Beast:  Vogon Poetry

9pm
UK:  Declan Kennedy and  Jonathan Hearn: Unfashionable End fan fiction. Tho comedians create and perform speculative scenes recreating what Arthur Dent and Ford might have done next…
USA:  Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe contest winners announced. Watch on Facebook.

9.15pm
UK: Musical performance from Mitch Benn. The comedian who in 2013 he took over the role of Zaphod Beeblebrox for the live stage show tour of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

10pm
USA: Last Chance to See live read. Watch on Facebook.

12:30am
USA: Geek Trivia. Watch on Facebook.

Published: 25 May 2020