LAHORE: Party-goers in Pakistan are going ape over the latest craze to hit the dancefloor: giant gorillas. Entertainers dress up in the super-sized simian costumes, flailing around their limbs to DJ beats alongside revellers in the eastern mega-city of Lahore.

Young students, who attended a university bash this week, said everyone’s energy levels shot up as soon as a grooving gorilla appeared on the floor.

“The reels related to it have created a lot of hype across different social media platforms. We have seen it on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts. It was trending quite heavily,” Ismail Ali, 33, one of the event organizers, told AFP.

“Around the same time, we learned that an event was going to take place at our university, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce this idea there and give students something enjoyable to experience.”

Shayen Zahoor, CEO of a gorilla suit company, said concept originated in India and they thought of introducing it in Lahore after seeing it on Instagram.

“We ordered a suit at the beginning of April, and by the end of April we received it. As soon as we got the suit, we started working on the project. We uploaded a reel on Instagram, and within just two days it reached a million views. After that, we started taking this work very seriously,” Zahoor said.

“At the same time, we began receiving bookings, and the public response was extremely positive. On the very first day, we received approximately 1,200 to 1,300 messages. People were asking whether it had actually arrived, how much it cost, and requesting various other details.”

Ali Raza, who performs at events wearing the gorilla costume, says the reaction of attendees vary at the events.

“For the most part, I noticed that children get quite scared when they see it. Girls get frightened as well, and boys sometimes panic and run away,” he said.

“However, there are also some people who come forward, grab hold of me, and are not afraid at all.”

For Sirat Al-Aruj, a 21-year-old university-goer, the presence of the gorilla brought a “great deal of excitement and energy to the atmosphere.”

“Before the gorilla made its entrance, we were feeling somewhat bored, but as soon as it appeared, everyone’s energy levels increased significantly. Because of that, we thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the performance,” she said.

Abdul Hannan agreed with Aruj, saying the gorilla’s entry brought a new life to the event.

“Before that, the event had been moving along rather slowly, but afterward the entire atmosphere changed,” he told AFP.

“We had only seen the gorilla online before, where it appeared relatively small in size. In reality, however, its size was quite impressive. Overall, it turned out to be a wonderful, memorable, and highly successful event.”