Prosh is a charity event run by University of Western Australia students, once a year in the middle of April. Every year since 1931, crazed (and often drunk) UWA students have hit the streets of Perth, Western Australia, selling copies of a satirical newspaper (full of shit-hot undergraduate humour) written by a subset of those crazed (and often drunk) students.
People selling Prosh (derived from what the word "procession" might sound like when abbreviated by a drunk person) dress up in costumes, often themed according to faculty (faculty rivalry is alive and well at UWA), and terrorise the citizens of Perth and its surrounding suburbs, offering the paper in return for a gold coin donation. In recent years the profits have gone to charities such as the Association for the Blind, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This year, Prosh raised over $100,000 for its nominated charities.
Another part of Prosh is the stunts that occur every year to promote awareness of the event (and give commuters a bit of warning of what's going to face them when they get accosted by hordes of uni students on the way to work). One Prosh Day in the 1970s, the fountain outside Parliament House was filled with washing detergent, causing large amounts of pink bubbles to cover the newly built Kwinana Freeway just metres from the fountain. On Prosh Day 2000, a mock-up of a UFO in full Prosh livery was salvaged from the Swan River, receiving much media coverage.
And of course, there is the procession itself. On Prosh Day, a bunch of groups assemble floats and parade the Perth Central Business District, culminating in a muster somewhere in Perth where groups perform various dramatic skits and the benefactors of the event make speeches to the masses of assembled Proshsters.
As someone who has been involved in both writing for and selling the paper the last two years, I can say that Prosh is a lot of fun, and the positive effect it has on many lives around the state is an added bonus.
Prosh in some form or another is celebrated at other Australian unis, such as Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In both cases it entails a week of festivities for the sake of charity, although in completely different forms from that practiced at UWA. (thanks to tWD for the heads-up regarding other Proshes)
tWD says re Prosh : Prosh in one form or another is an event in many Australian unis, and probably others - ISTR it comes from Oxbridge . At Melbourne Uni, Prosh Week marked the last day on which you could withdraw from a course without losing credit. I think this was the original reason for Prosh, but I might be wrong.