SILLY WALKS CONTEST to kick off URBAN FUTURE in Slovenia 2026

To make a colourful press and public launch for the ninth edition of Urban Future Congress, we invite the people of Ljubljana to show us their most creative and ridiculous walking styles. The streets belong to us, and we want to celebrate and animate them.

Eugene Quinn moderates and acts as DJ, to pump up the rhythm with all those original walks on the catwalk. with prizes and joy. Silly Walks Competition

We will revive the Ministry of Silly Walks - inspired by Monty Python.

Walking is under-rated, but is actually free medicine, good for your soul, builds community, and encourages more creative ideas, through having air in your lungs and blood flowing through your brain, unlike when you sit in front of a laptop or phone.

We invite the people of the Slovene capital - of all ages - to show us their craziest walking styles, on Monday 23 March. We bring the catwalk and music and jury and prizes, and you bring the creativity, in how to walk. Maybe you are influenced by Charlie Chaplin, shake your booty Beyonce, Mick Jagger swagger, a drunk fellow trying to get home late on a Friday night? American street hustle, or a baby taking its first steps, tight-rope walker, or back to John Cleese original 1960s ministry Beamter. We want comedy, style, madness, joy and everything in between. You can do various styles, if you are unsure which way to go. In pairs, teams or alone. Walking can be original and fun. #fellini

Walking is so easy to do. It makes people happy to walk around their home town, meet each other, and contribute to a more ecological lifestyle. Car drivers get stressed and competitive, while walkers chat happily with each other out on the streets.

Whoosh loves to walk. As social designers, we know that there is no better way to build strong communities, than to walk out of your front door, and meet other locals, play with them and really get to know your home. We organise creative events that celebrate locality, and tell new stories about place. Walking is sexy, theatrical, fun, easy, free, healthy, ecological, social and even political. It helps you connect with your city, clear your head (ideally, offline!), and discover new things. Every adventure starts with a few simple steps. And research shows that walkers vote more progressively and hopefully than car drivers.

Geh bitte! And Walk on the Wild Side.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Monty-Python-Sketch, here it is, dumme Spaziergänge! You can even try it with a Ballettinterpretation.

We have experimented with this event at the opening weekend of Mahü, on car-free, innovative Bloch-Bauer Promenade in Favoriten, and at the celebration of Streetlife Festival, on Babenbergerstrasse in the Innenstadt.

We faced the challenge of turning something we do every day, without thinking about it - walking - into an event, and something worth filming and coming to watch. And we came upon the solution of a public competition which is open to everybody. We can all do a stupid stroll. In fact, Eugene and his son Josef practice silly walks every single day, on the way to school in Brigittenau. Play is so important, and yet many people forget to do it, with so many complicated adult subjects like relationship, jobs and money to deal with. But it is valuable, to play together, relax and laugh. More info.