You might call it a day of peace, music and careful crowd counting.
Cloverdale is poised to help set a Guinness World Record Wednesday, when the Millennium Amphitheatre park is the site of an attempt to form the world’s largest human peace sign.
Organizers say 6,000 people are needed to join in for the record-setting attempt, taking place precisely at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at Cloverdale Millennium Amphitheatre, but participants are asked to get there at noon.
“We’ve been working on this over a year and it’s coming to fruition,” said Joy Ross of Kindness is Key Training Inc., based in North Delta.
She said Cloverdale was chosen because “you want somewhere safe and with lots of parking” and the large outdoor setting of the Millennium Amphitheatre at 176 Street and 64 Avenue fit the bill.
They originally wanted to try the world record attempt on Sept. 21 – the United Nations International Day of Peace – but couldn’t book the venue that day, so they transposed the date.
Anyone who would like to join the attempt is welcome. Invitations have gone as far away as Abbotsford and Vancouver.
“It’s just anybody who wants to come. The whole idea is to gather people in the community,” Ross says.
Bestselling author and psychotherapist Ted Kuntz is among the featured guests. The MC is Brock Tully, a motivational speaker and author.
An array of performers will also be assembled, from storytellers to singers and musicians. Entertainment will run from noon to 4 p.m.
Performers include Denis Hagan, actor, dancer and storyteller Jean Pierre Makosso, performer Michael Vincent, Crystal Spirit Sound Fusion, a group that uses crystal bowls, gongs, Tibetan singing bowls and other instruments to create a meditative ocean of sound, Jonas & Jeanette, a performing arts duo, singer Leora Cashe, Korki the Clown and more.
Bogy’s Gastropub in Cloverdale has donated an autographed hockey jersey signed by Canuck Alex Burrows that will be given away in a prize draw.
The area where participants will form the peace sign will be roped off, with four entrances letting people in. Surrey RCMP will be on hand to monitor the gates in order to help provide an accurate crowd count.
Aerial photos will be taken at the same time as the attempt at 1:30 p.m., documenting the size of the crowd.
Photos will be used in a charity calendar, with sales benefiting the Mercy Ships Charity Hospital Foundation, an organization that performs dental and medical surgeries and other aid work.
Representatives from the Surrey Food Bank will be on site, collecting donations of non-perishable food items.
To register your organization or family, visit www.humanpeacesign.com. To volunteer, call 604-764-0140.
If they don’t succeed on Sept. 12, Ross says they’re going to try again next year, making it an annual event.
“This is just our first one,” she says. “If we make the attempt, we’ll be happy.”
