Thousands of South Africans lit up braais in unison at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria on Thursday, attempting to reclaim the Guinness World Record for the most people grilling simultaneously — on a day the country treats as a de facto national holiday for grilling.
Organizers set up roughly 500 pre-lit braais and aimed to have close to 3,000 participants cooking at once between 10 a.m. and noon, each required to stay at an assigned station and grill continuously for at least five minutes to count toward the record. A Guinness World Records adjudicator monitored the attempt on site. The current record, 2,220 simultaneous grillers, was set in Ishigaki City, Japan, in 2023.
The event fell on Heritage Day, a public holiday celebrating South Africa's cultural diversity that has become popularly known as "Braai Day," with the traditional boerewors sausage sizzling alongside chops and burgers across racial and cultural lines.
It was South Africa's second attempt at the record in as many years. Last year, more than 2,400 people gathered at the same stadium and appeared to have done enough to beat the mark, but Guinness disqualified the attempt after too many participants left their stations before time was up. Organizers built in stricter monitoring this year to avoid a repeat.
One returning participant, Alex Coetzee, said he was confident the second attempt would hold up. "It's gonna be better this time," he said. "We're actually gonna break the world record now. South Africans have the record and that's the most important part."
As of Thursday night, adjudicators had not issued a final ruling, with organizers indicating a decision could come as soon as Friday.