Justin Herman Plaza in downtown San Francisco resembled a typical winter day in Montana as a layer of snow-like feathers spread into the air during the third organized pillow fight event, which gathered hundreds of people on Valentine’s Day.

The excitement was easily palpable and so hard to retain that some people started early by training against streetlights in the expectation of the official starting hour of the fun event.

Click the link on the right to view photos of the Valentine's Day mayhem...

“I can’t wait till the clock finally rings out,” Gloria Reyes, a 24-year-old student at San Jose State University, said about her first participation in the San Francisco pillow fight. “I wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day for myself. I haven’t been in a pillow fight for 10 or 15 years so it brings back good memories,” she said, although regretting not to have brought her pajamas for that special occasion.

The joyful and friendly fight finally erupted a few minutes before the clock struck 6 p.m. and kept going for more than two hours, turning the area into a nice battleground.

Wearing helmets or a simple cap and holding their pillow tight, fighters hit friends, lovers and unknown opponents, leaving torn apart pillows and feathers on the ground or flying into the air.

Valentine’s Day brought together people of all ages, but not necessarily in a relationship as one could expect.

“This is the perfect plan to be single on Valentine’s Day. You don’t have to worry about flowers and gifts,” said Rick LeBlanc, 45, who works in the financial district. “It’s so much fun.”

Away from the huge crowd throwing pillows at one another, other participants made it more personal by organizing a one-on-one fight to which spectators responded by cheering.

Devin Dieffenbacher, 26, a student at City College of San Francisco who is single for the first time in seven years said, “Pillow fight is awesome. It gets out the aggression and it’s harmless. It is good fun.”