A Guinness world record attempt to perform the longest concert is taking place in Ontario next month
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Kevin Ker was sitting on his couch about six months ago when an idea popped in his head.
Ker, who runs Epidemic Music Group, was wondering about the longest open mic on record.
After thinking about it for a bit, he ended up applying to run the longest open mic through the Guinness World Records.
“I forgot that I had applied and about two weeks ago we got the application approved,” Ker said. The approval came through to run the longest continuous concert. And we’re not just talking hours. This concert will be running for 16 days.
“There is no record for the longest open mic,” Ker told Daily Hive. And with the approval, everything moved very quickly. “It’s exploded very quickly, it’s exciting.”
The event got a Facebook page, and the emails started rolling in for Ker.
“In Canada’s 150th year, Epidemic Music Group, The Earl of Whitchurch and a massive community of music lovers will be taking the Guinness world record for “Longest Concert by Multiple Performers,” states a description on the event’s page, which went up just under a week ago.
“This will be a 16 day, 24 hour a day concert raising money and awareness for 16 charities. This is truly a David and Goliath moment in history, but our community is strong and our determination is immeasurable. This is truly a proud Canadian moment.”
Epidemic Music Group
Before even formally announcing the show, over 200 bands have registered to play.
“The number of bands and volunteers coming forward is astronomical,” Ker said. “Once we realized this was going to be 16 days, we were going to do it for a reason beyond making a record. We [wanted to] make something special out of it, and introduced a charity component to it.”
While 12 charities are now confirmed, four spots are still open. One of the confirmed charities benefiting from the concerts is the Gord Downie Cancer Fund.
Each day will be ticketed towards a specific charity, and will have its own line up of musicians.
And the elements to make this a world record include two key points: the first is that there can’t be more than 5 minutes between bands. The second, there can’t be more than 30 seconds between songs.
“It is quite the thing to try to take on for 16 days,” Ker said.
While the band line up has yet to be announced, Ker said there has been interest by some major Canadian artists.
The massive charity show begins on Friday, March 17. And it all takes place just an hour outside of downtown Toronto, in the North Eastern town of Stouffville at the Earl of Whitchurch.