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Subway riders in 60 major cities across the world were shocked Sunday having seen people without pants, but no panic – the routine is part of the annual No Pants Subway Ride Day, which has spread from Beijing to Berlin and from Madrid to Sydney, the Voice of Russia reports.

The event was started by theater group Improv Everywhere 13 years ago in New York City, to spark peoples’ curiosity and laughter. A statement on their website said: “The mission started as a small prank with seven guys and has grown into an international celebration of silliness, with dozens of cities around the world participating each year.”

To make it really funny, on a Facebook page, Chicago’s No Pants organizers recommended people wear “granny panties, boxer briefs, and boy cut underwear,” WGN reports. Uniforms and business suits are encouraged to amplify the lower-half effect as are props - bicycles, prams, shopping bags or a briefcase.

Participants are also forbidden from speaking to one another and are instructed to bring "any activity you might normally perform on the train: newspaper, book, sewing kit." "If questioned, you do not know any of the other pant-less riders. Tell folks that you 'forgot to wear pants'," organizers told participants ahead of the Sydney ride.

In LA, no-pants volunteers swarmed the Red Line's Hollywood/Highland station. They gathered in groups along the Red, Gold and Expo lines earlier on Sunday afternoon and help new riders pay fares, find their way through Union Station, and change trains. The local event organizers, an improvisational theater group called GuerilLA, encouraged participants to exhibit kindness toward "civilians" while underground in their underwear.

"This should also be fun for the passengers who are wearing pants since their most likely reaction to us will be curiosity and amusement," the organizers wrote. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of pantless fun when we get off the train and onto the street."

Marc Littman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said pant-less riders who are otherwise fully clothed will not be cited for indecent exposure.

"If you're walking around naked, that's a different story,” he told the LA Times.

In D.C., the group was meeting at Hancock Park near the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station, according to the Facebook page for the event. People were reminded to appear nonchalant about their lack of pants.

This page also reminds people to make sure they have their pants on them, perhaps hidden in a bag or backpack, because participants are urged to put on their pants should any authority figure make such a request.

And riders were warned to be prepared for possible waits on every line due to Metro’s ongoing reconstruction work.

And organizer of the London event Rammi Glomp joked about what was to come when speaking to participants on Facebook beforehand.

“I’ll probably be holding a pair of sparkly red underpants and a sign so I shouldn’t be too hard to miss.”