Woodstock, eat your heart out.
A group of music lovers in Stouffville, Ont. is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for lengthiest concert by hosting a weeks-long musical extravaganza.
The Earl of Whitchurch Pub is hosting an epic 16-day concert that got underway on St. Patrick’s Day Friday. The event was organized by Kevin Ker, who is the founder of Epidemic Music Group. The organization promotes the local music scene in and around Stouffville Ont.
Ker told CTV News Channel on Saturday that Stouffville boasts a strong community of musicians and the city is home to various music festivals throughout the year.
“We have a really huge foundation and musical community and we just decided to challenge ourselves and do something bigger,” he said.
Ker and his team lined up approximately 400 different musicians, who will perform “everything” from jazz to opera and rock, funk and pop over the course of the world record attempt.
“You can expect anything,” Ker said. “The community is pretty vast so it’s a good reflection of everyone who’s come together to make this happen.”
The organizers are also using the world record attempt to raise money for 16 different charities – one for each day of the concert.
“This is such a grand event and so big in scope that we decided instead of one charity, why not have a different charity every day?” Ker said.
Ker said the “hardest part” of planning for the concert is ensuring they adhere to all of Guinness World Records’ rules and regulations.
For instance, songs may not be under two minutes in length and musicians can’t play the same number more than once in a four-hour period. Under Guinness rules, if a performer leaves the stage, they may not return for a whole hour, Ker said.
On their first day, the pub drew lineups and a crowd of about 50-100 people, but Ker attributes that to St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
“Last night we did have a scary moment where we dwindled down to about 12 people in the crowd,” Ker said.
According to Guinness rules, Ker said, the number of people in the audience cannot drop below 10, or the attempt is over.
Ker said the “real challenge” will be drawing audience members for the early morning hours on weekdays, when most people are heading off to work or school.
“I’m hoping we’ll get a really good response, and we’re encouraging people to come out and help us,” Ker said.
