News

The Best Holiday Season World Records

by Andrea Garcia-Vargas

Thailand just added another Guinness World Record to its résumé: the world record for the largest human Christmas tree. Really. In Bangkok Friday, 852 young kids between ages 6-15 stood in a "christmas tree formation" at a Thai shopping mall: some wore green (for the fir needles), red (for the baubles) and dark brown (for the tree trunk). Oh, and this has happened before: two years ago, Germany stole the previous record with 672 participants. Well, it's one way to get into the holiday spirit...

It's been a great year for Thailand in terms of world records. On Feb. 12, Thailand set a world record for the most people hula-hooping at once: about 4,500 hula-hoopers. Two days later, on Feb. 14, a Thai couple set the world record for the longest make-out sesh, coming in at a whopping 58 hours, 35 minutes, and 58 seconds.

Funnily enough, Christmas is not officially recognized in Thailand, which is nearly 95 percent Buddhist. But so what? Christmas spirit is even better when it's coming from a nation that doesn't even celebrate the religious holiday.

But before Christmas, we'll also be basking in some Thanksgiving, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa spirit. We've rounded up five other Guinness World Records that will boost your holiday spirit...

1. Largest gathering of people dressed as turkeys

Yup, this is actually a thing. In November 2011, 661 people in Dallas, Texas dressed up as turkeys and took part in the 44th Annual Turkey Trot by Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA.

Are you wondering if they sat down to eat turkey right after in their turkey costumes? We hope they didn't. That's kind of twisted.

2. Most dreidels spinning simultaneously

In December 2011, Philadelphia's United Synagogue Youth spun 734 dreidels simultaneously for at least 10 seconds. Think that's easy? Think again. Binghamton University failed at topping the record with 749 dreidels last year — apparently, 40 of those dreidels went rogue.

3. Largest menorah

In December 2005, Israeli sculptor and artist Yaacov Agam uncovered his Guinness World Record-breaking masterpiece: a 32-foot tall, 28-foot wide menorah weighing 4,000 pounds. The menorah was uncovered at Fifth Avenue and 59th St, between the Plaza and Pierre Hotels near Central Park. This beauty will have you smiling all the way through the Hanerot Halalu.

4. Largest Nativity village

On January 11, 2011, the Colombian city of Cali unveiled a Nativity village with 339 figures, measuring 185,441 square feet – making it the world's largest recorded Nativity scene.

The tour through the village, which takes over an hour, leads visitors past scenes including Jesus' birth, Mary's annunciation, and Herod's palace. Last year, the village was relocated to the Colombian capital of Bogotá, where it counted up to 80,000 daily visitors.

5. Largest gathering of Santa Claus'

The Guinness World Records website still lists Derry City, Northern Ireland as holding this record from 2007 with 13,000 Santa Claus', but the Portuguese city of Oporto actually takes the gold. In Dec. 2011, over 16,000 Santa Claus' paraded down the streets, doing everything from tongue-wagging and smoking (watch the video, 3:09-3:16) to baton-twirling (see 11:57).

Images: livingfreenyc.com, dallasnews.com, The Times of Israel.