It turns out that Taipei won’t become the proud holder of Guinness World Records for largest picnic after all. At least not on Sunday.
In March, the arts non-profit WIART (微藝術文創發展協會) opened registration for The World’s Largest Picnic Day (世界最大野餐日) — a challenge to Lisbon, Portugal, the reigning big-picnic champion of the world.
To claim the title, Taipei must host a minimum of 22,233 picnickers to top Lisbon’s turnout of 22,232 at the Parque da Bela Vista on June 2009.
Photo Courtesy of WIART
But official registration closed on May 15 at around 4,000 participants, far enough from the mark to seal the picnic’s fate, said organizer Marc Mai (麥志豪).
“There is no hope this year,” Mai said. “Now we are concentrating strictly on throwing a good picnic.”
Under a rescaled name — Picnic Day — the event starts at 11am on Sunday at the Greater Taipei Metropolitan Park (大台北都會公園), on a pleasant green plain flanked by mountains.
Unregistered arrivals are welcome, but only registered picnickers receive an official picnic mat and an up-to-code picnic lunch: two dishes and a drink, per official regulations.
“We planned this picnic according to all Guinness World Records’ rules, which are numerous and strict,” Mai said.
It may not be the world’s biggest picnic, but it could still be grand.
The park will see thousands of picnickers, mainly families and friends seeking to spend time together, he added. There are no mass icebreakers or games, but there are three stages of live entertainment.
The program includes Birdman (日京江羽人), a Taiwanese finger-style guitarist and folk singer, and turn-tabling by classical pianist turned DJ Claudia Re. There is Mixer (麋先生), a young five-piece rock band nominated for this year’s Golden Melody Best Band award.
Mai is an IT specialist at WIART who organized last year’s Attack on Flour (太白粉路跑), a road run that used social media to attract funding and recruit 13,000 participants.
“Running is a positive activity and picnicking is a positive activity, and those are things we could use a lot more of now,” he said.
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