At the University of St Andrews in Scotland, hundreds of first-year students gathered on St Salvator's lower college lawn on Monday armed with cans of shaving foam, participating in what has become an annual foam fight.
The event traces back 600 years to Raisin Monday, a tradition in which freshers thank older students for mentoring them through their first weeks at university. Historically, students gave their mentors a pound of raisins, which gave the ritual its name.
The modern version bears little resemblance to its origins. This Monday, participants wore fancy dress costumes including Smurfs, mice, bananas, grandmas, sunflowers and chefs while engaging in the foam battle. Nobody at the university appears to remember exactly when or how the tradition shifted from raisin-giving to shaving cream warfare, but the foam fights have been the dominant format for the past few decades.
The event represents one of St Andrews' most recognisable rites of passage for new students.