Largest gathering of people dressed as Wally

Thousands of people dressed as Wally/Waldo flocked into Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan, for a puzzling Guinness World Records attempt.

They were all hoping to take part in the world’s Largest gathering of people dressed as Wally/Waldo – the much-loved character from the children’s book Where’s Wally, created by British author and illustrator Martin Handford.

The event, in early October, was the third occasion the amusement park has tried to break the record after their previous two attempts were unsuccessful – so the pressure was on for the organisers.

Participants were required to wear a white bobble hat with a red bobble and red trim, glasses, a red and white striped shirt and blue jeans if they wanted to be included in the record total.

Largest gathering of people dressed as Wally

Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Kaoru Ishikawa counted and verified an incredible 4,626 Waldos, breaking the previous record of 3,872 Wallys, achieved at the Street Performance World Championship in Dublin, Ireland, back in 2011.

Largest gathering of people dressed as Wally Japan

Kaoru reported that the organisers from Huis Ten Bosch were so happy to have finally achieved the record that they shed a few tears!

“We have grown into a world-beating theme park,” enthused an official from the theme park, which celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year.

Did you know?

Wally has many names around the world. Here are some of his names in other languages around the world:

  • Wally - Australia, Holland, Italy (also called Ubaldo) Poland, Portugal, Spain, UK
  • Waldo – US
  • Charlie – France
  • Walter – Germany
  • Willy – Norway
  • Văn-lang – Vitenam
  • ウォーリー (Wōrī) – Japan
  • Уолли (Uolli) – Russia
  • हेट्टी (Hetti) – Hindu
  • 威利 – China (Mandarin pronunciation: Wēilì, Cantonese pronunciation: Wai1 lei6)