Despite the bitter cold, thousands of Boston residents bundled up in Santa hats and scarves to attempt to break a festive record at the Prudential Center’s Boylston Plaza on Saturday.
Led by Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart and The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, 3,239 people tried to set the Guinness World Record for the largest group of holiday carolers singing simultaneously.
In the end, the Boston Pops fell several thousand short of making history and breaking the world record, set by 7,514 carolers at Bob Jones University in 2004.
However, the carolers broke a Boston record, Lockhart said.
“What a wonderful opportunity to spread holiday cheer,” Lockhart said to the crowd on Saturday. “It’s all about community this season and I’m so glad to be able to sing with all of you as we attempt to make history.”
Organized as a promotion to kick off the Boston Pops holiday concert series, coordinators and volunteers emphasized the need to “keep music live” as the crowd grew.
Packed in the plaza adjacent to the Prudential Center, the thousands of carolers were steered into a gated area where they would sing carols simultaneously for 15 minutes, as organizers took a head count from above.
Free hot chocolate wasn’t the only thing keeping these carolers warm: the Boston Pops contributed $1 for every caroler in attendance toward a program that allocates Holiday Pops tickets for children in underserved communities.
Though carolers fell short of their goal, Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph kept the audience excited regardless, as they sung “Deck the Halls,” “Joy to the World,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and more.
Music professionals and amateurs alike gathered to spread the cheer.
“I love to sing,” said Laura Nickerson, a Brookline resident. “My friend and I consider ourselves professional amateurs so it’s a great opportunity to sing with thousands of other music lovers.”
Other participants saw it as a great way to celebrate the Christmas season.
“I think it’s really cool and a great way to kick-off the holidays,” said Kaitlin Moran, a 2008 Boston University alumna.
Music teacher Jaime Alberts, from Bigelow Middle School in Newton, worked to get the school represented at the caroling event.
In the end, about 35 music teachers, students and their families from the school came to the plaza to celebrate their love of music.
“It’s a really fun opportunity for my students and me to promote music in schools,” Alberts said. “Plus it sounded like a lot of fun.”
While the attempt to break the record was not publicly advertised, the buzz was spread by word of mouth, the Boston Pops website and through the popular local Twitter account BostonTweet.
“I heard about it from BostonTweet and it sounded like a lot of fun,” Kevin Dwyer, an Emerson College sophomore said.
“It’s important in this day and age where so many terrible things are happening to celebrate once in a while,” he said. “This is all about having a good time and celebrating the holiday cheer with friends. What more could you want?”
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