A quirky new trend is taking over Pakistan’s party scene: giant, oversized gorilla costumes crashing weddings, campus events and celebrations, with performers flailing their arms to DJ beats as guests dance around them. What started as a social media curiosity has spread into an actual fixture of Lahore’s nightlife.
Entertainers in super-sized gorilla suits have been showing up at parties across the eastern megacity of Lahore, turning ordinary celebrations into playful, slightly chaotic spectacles. The costumed performers tower over guests, their energetic, larger-than-life movements making them impossible to miss on a crowded dance floor. Videos of the performances have gone viral online, which in turn has driven demand for the real thing — the trend has spread from social media to weddings, parties and campus celebrations across the country.
A university event goes ape
The trend recently made headlines after a giant gorilla performer joined students on the dance floor at a university event in Lahore this week, delighting the crowd. Reactions from those who were there capture exactly why it’s caught on.
Sirat Al-Aruj, a 21-year-old university student, said the atmosphere had felt a little flat before the gorilla arrived, but that changed instantly. Everyone’s energy shot up the moment the gorilla appeared, and she said the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the performance as a result. Fellow attendee Abdul Hannan agreed, saying the gorilla’s arrival gave the event a fresh burst of energy — adding that the costume looked far more impressive in person than it had in the online clips he’d seen beforehand, where it appeared much smaller.
From inside the suit
Ali Raza, who performs at these events dressed as the gorilla, says reactions from the crowd are wildly unpredictable. He says children in particular tend to get scared, along with some girls and boys who panic and run off — while others walk right up, grab onto him, and show no fear at all.
Part of the appeal seems to be the gap between expectation and reality — several attendees have noted the costume looks far bigger and more startling in person than in the viral clips that made the trend famous in the first place. That element of surprise, combined with the sheer novelty of a giant ape showing up mid-celebration, appears to be exactly what’s turning it into recurring entertainment at parties rather than a one-off gimmick — with performers like Raza now booked as a regular act on Lahore’s party circuit.
