Thursday, August 31, 2017

  Largest gathering of people dressed as Harry Potter: world record set in Bolton (VIDEO)

   BOLTON, UK -- A total of 676 children from 11 Primary Schools gathered at Smithills Hall in Bolton to beat the previous Guinness world record of 521, which was set in 2015 by a school in West Sussex; the record attempt was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the first book written by JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, according to the World Record Academy .

Photo: A total of 676 children gathered at Smithills Hall in Bolton to beat the previous record of 521, which was set in 2015 by a school in West Sussex. The event was to mark 20 years since the release of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone. Photo: Danny Laweson/PA wire ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness World Records world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as comic book characters is 1,784, achieved by the Salt Lake Comic Con (USA) in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, on 25 September 2015.

     Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as videogame characters; it is 491 and was achieved by Tampereen Särkänniemi Ltd. (Finland) in Tampere, Finland, on 7 September 2013.

     All in all, pupils from All Saints CE Primary School, Blackrod Church School; Claypool Primary School, Ladybridge Primary School, Ladywood School and Outreach Service, Pikes Lane Primary School, SS Peter and St Paul, St George's CE Primary School, St Gregory's RC Primary School, St John the Evangelist RC Primary School and St Peters Smithills Dean CE Primary School all took part.

   The previous world record of 521, which stood since March 5, 2015, was held by Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex.

    The record attempt was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the first book written by JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. British publishers Bloomsbury instigated the attempt.

    For the record to stand, each pupil had to be wearing a Gryffindor tie and glasses and have a wand in their hand and a scar on their forehead. They then all had to stand in class order for five minutes before officially breaking the record.