When can you have TOO MANY dinosaurs? Well, you could argue when Jurassic Park opened, there were a few too many, in-universe and out. There’s also the situation with chicken nuggets shaped like the prehistoric beasts and maybe you unfroze more than you needed, resulting in too many dino nuggies. For the town of Drumheller in Alberta, Canada though- they had too many dinosaurs of a different kind. Unfortunately, the surplus of saurian cost them a chance at a world record.
Before diving into this, you have to understand that Guinness World Records will certify almost anything if it really wants to. We wrote an article last year about the organization certifying the largest grilled cheese sandwich. Why is there a category for this to begin with? Is there a separate category for a grilled cheese with tomato sandwich? The world may never know. We do know however, that there is a category for the “largest gathering of people dressed as dinosaurs.” And the only reason we know this record exists is because of the town of Drumheller and how they managed to break the record and fail at breaking it, simultaneously.
The record to beat was set in Los Angeles in 2019. The total is probably less than you’re expecting as the record was set at 252 people. Well, Drumheller managed to get at least 3,000 dino dressed individuals, based on the record keeping from wristbands and bracelets that were distributed. This was a far greater turnout than they anticipated to the point where the recordkeeping went off the rails. There were quite possibly more than 3,000 people there but with all the moving and people coming and going, getting an accurate number of participants didn’t happen.
Complicating matters more are the rules that Guinness World Records set in place to recognize an event like this. To quality, the participants have to remain together in the area for a full minute. If the crowd had been smaller, or the team in charge had prepared for this deluge of dinosaurs, it sounds like they would’ve handedly taken the trophy. Alas, they’ll have to try again another time.
Lesson learned though, apparently one should not underestimate the amount of people with dinosaur costumes nor their determination to show up with them en masse, in public.
