Festivalgoers at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing double denim (tops and bottoms) inside Diplo’s Honkytonk at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Saturday, April 27.
Unfortunately, the Wrangler-sponsored challenge came just 70 people short of breaking the record previously held by GAP Japan K.K in Japan, who broke it with 357 people back on January 31.
It seemed within grasp for the three-day event, where fans often sport western-themed fits. Right before the event began at the Honkytonk, which held a decent-sized crowd early in the afternoon, DJ 30Rack spun some tunes for the daily line dance lesson.
Fans who were there may not have not known the tally was scheduled for Saturday. As the line dancing ended, people began to leave, including folks sporting the denim-on-denim look.
Some, like Ashley McCollum of Thousand Oaks, heard about the denim record attempt through the Stagecoach mobile app, and her friend Tori Nguyen had seen it on her Instagram.
“I usually wear denim at least for one of my outfits when I come out here,” McCollum said. “This year, I had a jacket I was going to wear one day and then shorts for the next day, but when I saw the challenge, I just brought both.”
By 3 p.m., festival and Wrangler staff made a microphone announcement asking fans to head to the back of the Honkytonk, where they lined up and were then enclosed behind stanchions as official adjudicators for Guinness World Record using clickers kept count along with official stewards who observed groups of 50 or more waiting in the record attempt area.
The crowd’s outfits included different colored denim coats, shirts, shorts and pants, which were all counted. Other people wearing denim jumpsuits, overalls, and dresses were turned away, along with people who only had one denim clothing item. To make matters worse, people who left the record attempt area were deducted from the count.
“I think they were waiting for more people to come in, and some people wanted to see the artists performing,” said Sarah Casson, official adjudicator for Guinness World Record.
Tom Bradford, another official adjudicator for the Guinness World Record, said that these record-breaking events aren’t exclusive to music festivals and are sometimes organized specifically to try and snub the Guinness World Record, but it helps to have mass groups of people and ensure the message for the attempt gets out.
“From what I heard from people outside, was it very much like ‘Oh, I didn’t know about it’ or ‘If I had known, I would’ve been there,’ but harder at music festivals when there is so much going on, but we’re happy that these people came out and attempted to break the record,” Bradford said.
“It was a really fun event and valiant effort, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves despite not being a successful attempt this time around,” Casson added.
Related Articles
Stagecoach 2024: Day 2 of country music festival sure to hold surprises
Stagecoach: The New Bar brings fresh flavor, outlook on nonalcoholic drinks
Stagecoach 2024: Diplo’s Honky Tonk stage brings line dancing, EDM acts to the country event
Stagecoach 2024: Jelly Roll, Elle King wow during Day 1 of country music festival
Stagecoach 2024: Eric Church’s performance gets backlash from fans