Host a Towel Day Party to Celebrate the Life of Douglas Adams

Hosting a Towel Day party or event in honour of Douglas Adams is a brilliant way to celebrate his legacy, particularly his cult classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

Towel Day is observed annually on 25 May, and fans around the world proudly carry a towel in his memory. 

Here's how you can host a fun and memorable event:

Towel Day Party/Event Ideas

Theme & Dress Code

Towel-themed attire: Encourage guests to bring or wear towels (creatively!)—around their shoulders, as capes, turbans, or even beach-style outfits.

Cosplay characters from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—think Arthur Dent (in his dressing gown), Zaphod Beeblebrox (two heads optional), or Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Activities & Entertainment

Dramatic Readings & Quotes

Host readings from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series—choose iconic or funny passages.

Run a "Finish the Quote" quiz with classic lines from the books.

Hitchhiker’s Trivia

Create a trivia quiz with questions about the books, radio shows, TV adaptation, and Douglas Adams' life.

Improv or Skit Session

Ask groups to act out scenes from the book or invent new ones involving towels, spaceships, and intergalactic bureaucracy.

Towel Decorating Station

Provide plain towels and fabric pens, patches, and glitter glue for guests to personalise their own celebratory towel.

Food & Drink Ideas

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster: Create a fun, non-alcoholic version of the infamous cocktail (use lemonade, blue curacao syrup, popping candy, etc.).

42-Themed Snacks: Label dishes and drinks with references from the books, like “Deep Thought Dip” or “Babel Fish Biscuits”.

"Don’t Panic" cake with themed decorations.

Photo Opportunities

Set up a photo booth with themed props: towels, guidebooks, Marvin masks, and spaceship backdrops.

Use signs like “I know where my towel is” and “Don’t Panic!” for social sharing.

Promotion or Virtual Option

If you're blogging or sharing online, encourage fans to post towel selfies with hashtags like #TowelDay or #DontPanic.

Host a virtual event on Zoom or Discord for remote fans—combine trivia, readings, and towel show-and-tells.

Bonus: Educational/Charity Element

Share facts about Douglas Adams’ contributions to science and conservation (he was a supporter of endangered species causes).

Collect donations for a related charity (e.g., wildlife conservation or literacy).

On a roll! Sainsbury’s introduces paper packaging to its toilet and kitchen rolls in a first for UK retailers

Although not a traditional food and drink story this news is of interest to us who use paper towels to wipe up our kitchen messes.

Because Sainsbury’s is the first UK retailer to announce a switch from plastic to paper packaging across its entire own-brand toilet paper and kitchen towel ranges. 

This move will save 485 tonnes of plastic, the equivalent of over 55 million pieces of plastic annually. The change is said to be the biggest plastics reduction the retailer has made in its grocery business so far to date.

The new packaging will launch across 27 products, with customers starting to see the change in store and online from this week. The paper packaging will have rolled out to all lines by February next year and can easily be recycled at home through kerbside recycling.

The packaging switch follows the introduction of double-length toilet rolls in Sainsbury’s last year. The multipack rolls include double the number of sheets on each roll, reducing plastic packaging by 30%, and saving 84 tonnes of plastic each year.

Claire Hughes, who is the Director of Product and Innovation, said: “We sell thousands of our own brand toilet tissue and kitchen roll products every week and by switching from plastic to paper on these household staples, we’re able to make a significant impact in reducing plastic. 

"This change alone represents the biggest plastic reduction in our grocery products so far and our customers can expect many more changes to come. Collaborating with our suppliers to develop innovative packaging solutions to reduce plastic is a major key priority for Sainsbury’s, helping us to achieve our ambitious target of increasing recycled content and recyclability.”

Sainsbury’s also recently passed on over £4m worth savings directly to customers by cutting the price of selected own brand toilet paper and kitchen towels. The cuts included by Sainsbury’s ultra-absorbent kitchen towels x2 (previously £3.25, now £3) and by Sainsbury’s super soft quilted x16 (previously £7.50, now £6.50) and are part of its commitment to keep prices low on staple household products.

The retailer's latest packaging swap is just one of the changes it has made this year to reduce plastic packaging. Last month, Sainsbury’s was the first UK retailer to swap its plastic babywear hangers to cardboard, saving 103 tonnes of plastic a year. Sainsbury’s also switched its own-brand laundry detergent from plastic to cardboard cartons earlier this year, saving 22 tonnes of plastic annually.

www.sainsburys.co.uk