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Dublin Irish Festival Recaptures Guinness World Record for Largest Irish Jig

Dublin, Ohio (September, 2007) – The Dublin Irish Festival has officially set the new Guinness World Record for Largest Irish Jig.  The City of Dublin received the news by mail in a certificate dated September 19 from Kaoru Ishikawa, a member of the Guinness Records Management Team.

Details of the achievement have been recorded as follows:  “The largest Irish dance involved 10,036 participants at the Dublin Irish Festival organized by the City of Dublin in Dublin, Ohio USA on 4 August 2007.”  According to Alison Doolittle LeRoy, Irish Festival Events Administrator who organized the competition, “although the record doesn’t automatically guarantee an entry in the annual book due to space limitations, all new records are considered for inclusion and will also be listed on their web site, guinnessworldrecords.com.”

The City captured the title for the first time in 1998.In 2005 the title was awarded to Cork, Ireland with 7,664 dancers. 

In achieving this record, event staff ensured that the rules defined by Guinness World Records were carefully followed.  To quantify the dancers, event staff and volunteers distributed sequentially numbered stickers to Festival guests.  At 9 p.m. on Saturday, August 4 at seven stages throughout the 27-acre Festival, trained Irish dancers led crowds in a celebration of Irish culture with a jig lasting more than 5 minutes.  City of Dublin Mayor Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher was an official witness to the attempt and reported the results in a letter to Guinness World Record Officials immediately following the event.

About the Dublin Irish Festival
The Dublin Irish Festival, set on 27 rolling acres just northwest of Columbus, Ohio, is one of the nation’s premier Irish festivals and a central Ohio tradition. Dublin is home of the Jack Nicklaus championship golf course, Muirfield Village Golf Club, and just a few miles from the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. More than 100,000 visitors are expected for the 21st anniversary Dublin Irish Festival August 1-3, 2008.

For more information, please visit www.DublinIrishFestival.org. 

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Media Contacts:          
Mary Jo DiSalvo, Media Contact, 614-410-4507, mdisalvo@dublin.oh.us