Three hundred durian lovers gathered at the Telok Ayer Community Centre and Hong Lim Park to sample 1,000 kilograms of the king of fruits yesterday.

The event, Durian Mobilisation 2013, was organised by Dr Leslie Tay of food blog ieat.ishoot.ipost and supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM).

It was also a call to people from all walks of life to come to together and rekindle the kampong spirit after Singapore's 48th birthday.

A total of 1,000 kilograms of seven different cultivars of durian were prepared for the feast, like the Black Pearl and the Mao Shan Wang.

The durian appreciation session saw strangers turning into friends as they engaged in friendly debate over the best durian cultivar, as well as learnt how to choose durians, and they also shared their durian stories and created a post-it artwork.

After the three-hour-long feast, durian lovers cleaned up after themselves and left satisfied.

Durian Mobilisation is in its sixth year running and aims to promote kindness over Singaporeans' common love for the pungent fruit.

Profits from the event will also go to charity, including a donation to the Prison Fellowship Singapore to organise a similar durian gathering for the inmates and their families.

This is the first year that SKM is on board. The SKM also supported The Big Makan, a potluck event held in the Tanjong Rhu area on National Day.