Buskers help Brisbane Festival claim Guinness World Record
An army of musicians, magicians, acrobats, living statues and other street performers have put the Brisbane busking scene in the record books.
Exactly 387 buskers gathered in the city's Cultural Precinct on Valentine's Day evening to not only claim, but smash the Guinness World Record for largest busk in a single venue.
The Valentine's Busk was held on the Maiwar Green outside the Gallery of Modern Art.
Guinness World Record adjudicator Chris Sheedy said the record was "an incredibly difficult one" to break, having been set in the United Kingdom nearly a decade earlier.
"We often judge the difficulty by how long it stands for," Mr Sheedy told the crowd*,* before announcing the good news.
"Most records stand for 6 to 12 months, this one has stood for eight years."
Record organiser and Brisbane Festival artistic director David Berthold said there appeared to be cultural representatives from every corner of the globe.
"The sheer variety of the stuff going on ... it was really affecting to me."
All buskers had been out and about performing around South Bank and the Cultural Precinct from 3:00pm before making their way to a fenced off area in the Maiwar Green for the 6:00pm adjudication by a Guinness World Record representative.
The count was official within the hour.
"It was quite a moment actually. We're in a relatively confined space for a period of time while during the day they were spread out," Mr Berthold said.
"They [the buskers] created an extraordinary noise in a relatively small area."
A peoples' choice concert to follow the record was won by young Sunshine Coast brothers Tim and Sam Aitken of Hoo8hoo.
They performed for 30 minutes before Australian band The Basics, including Wally De Backer AKA Gotye, performed for free to end the night.
"They ended up busking throughout the day as well ... it was a spur of the moment thing for them."
The event also raised funds for the Children's Hospital Foundation Music Therapy Program, which helps rehabilitate patients through singing, dancing and improvising on a range of instruments.
