1,000 People Joined in the Light Saber Battle at Washington Square Park Saturday

Paul Quitoriano

If you found yourself walking through Washington Square Park this past Saturday night, you probably noticed the crowd of people dressed in Jedi robes and brandishing light sabers. The event, as we'd written earlier this month, was actually an organized activity, not just your average night of craziness in the park -- put together by Newmindspace and attended by about a thousand people, both children and adults. Newmindspace is the same organization behind the Union Square pillow fight and the Coney Island bubble battle, and has been gradually establishing a loyal following of attendees who have formed a community around the free events.

Check out the Voice's photo gallery of Light Saber Battle 2011 shots.

According to Newmindspace's Kevin Bracken, there are no future events planned right now, but there will definitely be more to come at some point. His strategy for coming up with ideas for events is deceptively simple: Find a safe childhood activity, move it to a public place, and multiply the number of participants. Although all of the events so far have been completely free, the organization has done some sponsored events for charities and is working on finding ways to raise more money for good causes. Last December, they did an event with Virgin Mobile where they had a thousand people kiss under the world's largest mistletoe. Aw.

Previously: There Will Be a Giant Lightsaber Battle in Washington Square Park This Month

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