translated from Spanish: Mexico holds Guinness World’s Largest Folk Dance Record

Guadalajara.- Some 882 dancers broke on Saturday the Guinness World Record of the largest folk dance in the world in the Mexican city of Guadalajara as part of the International Meeting of Mariachi and charrería that runs until September 2nd . Dressed in colorful costumes typical dancers of all ages danced to the rhythm of the traditional Mexican song “El jarabe tapatío”, icon of this city, performed by a group of mariachis who attend this annual meeting. Mertapia, a Guinness adjudicator, told Efe that 892 people initially participated, but ten were disqualified for breaking the rule of dancing five minutes in a row uninterruptedly and not leaving the challenge site.

He noted that the dancers surpassed their own mark reached eight years ago, when 457 men and women who danced at the same time a mariachi song met and also doubled the number of participants during this attempt. For Tapia these kinds of exploits are important “because it means that everyone will recognize the cultural richness of this beautiful country”. According to the contractor Mexico has 230 different brands, of which 25 belong to Jalisco.

Jalisco has broken its own #RécordGuiness!” The largest Mexican folk dance in the world” with 500 dancers dressed in typical costumes from the region to the sound of mariachi. Many congratulations to all who participated, are pride jalisciense.@EncMariachi pic.twitter.com/8BjgB9F7n8 — Gerardo Quirino (@GerardoQuirinoV)
August 24, 2019

Thousands of people gathered in the historic center of the city to witness this brand and admire the beauty and color of the typical costumes that waved to the rhythm of mariachi music that for a week invades the streets of Guadalajara.Women with their dressed in broad skirts and braids and the men wearing the charro costume endured the intense heat of the afternoon, which did not wane their desire to dance twice at the request of the audience. When the contractor broke the news of the new record, the dancers shouted and toasted while in the background the popular song “Guadalajara, Guadalajara”, one of the best known mexican folklore, was heard.
“If he could, he could,” the participants shouted, waving their batters and hats.

During the record-breaking ceremony, the Secretary of Culture in Jalisco, Giovana Jaspersen, noted that when talking about Mexico we think of mariachi music, dance, tequila and the agavero landscape, all examples of cultural heritage that Jalisco has bequeathed to the world. So far Guadalajara holds eleven Guinness World Records, including the highest number of mariachis playing in unison, which he achieved twice; the largest carchira mosaic and the record achieved in 2015 of higher concentration of agave cutters, the plant with which the tequila drink is made, among others. The International Meeting of Mariachi and Charrería will bring together dozens of mariachis from Europe and America in public cultural activities that for a week, will be spread over various municipalities of Jalisco.

Original source in Spanish