Cheltenham has made a successful attempt and is now the Guiness World Records holder of the title for ‘the most people Jiving simultaneously’

On Sunday August 10 at 12pm, Cheltenham made its attempt to set the Guiness World Records title for ‘the most people Jiving simultaneously’ on the Promenade in the town centre.

1,000 people were needed to set the new title and, despite the heavy rain and strong winds thanks to the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha, the attempt was successful. Jack Brockbank, Guiness World Records Official Adjudicator confirmed the success live on stage in front of the jivers and spectators, announcing that the new record had been set at 1,043.

Jack commented: ”Today’s attempt has been successful in spite of awful weather conditions and that shows the commitment of the people of Cheltenham to dancing and of course taking part.”

To achieve the new Guiness World Records title, organisers Cheltenham Town Hall set themselves a target to teach as many people to jive as possible. In the run up to the event, local dance teachers from Jazz Jive Swing taught over 300 people to jive in preparation for the attempt, at a series of free jive classes, aimed to help people prepare and be confident to take part in the official attempt.

A call was put out to attract over 1,000 people to take part and dance a variation of Jive on the Promenade for five minutes. The organising team at Cheltenham Town Hall worked hard to spread the word, get the message out to jives and non jivers from across the local area and today’s success shows how far and wide the message went.

Gary Nejrup, Business & Entertainment Manager for Cheltenham Town Hall, said: “Cheltenham is now the proud holder of the brand new Guiness World Records title for ‘the most people Jiving simultaneously’ on The Prom. Not even the awful weather brought to us by Hurricane Bertha could stop the determination and enthusiasm of 1,043 people. I can’t even begin to say how pleased the whole attempt team at Cheltenham Town Hall are and I really want to thank everyone who took part, our sponsors Tayabali Tomlin and Cheltenham Borough Council and of course our charity partner, Winston’s Wish!”

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