Guitar Guinness World Record 2016: a tribute to Hendrix and playing together in Wrocław

1 May 2016

The Guinness Guitar Record, part of Thanks Jimi Festival, is an annual international May Day Guitar Celebration held in Wrocław at the initiative of instrumentalist and teacher Leszek Cichoński. This is our fourteenth record attempt. The official record, from 2014, is 7344 guitars; now we need one more.

This year, Wrocław holds the honour of being European Capital of Culture 2016, and we expect guitarists from across Europe. Through the webcast on heyjoe.pl, guitarists anywhere on Earth can also join and play with us online. This year’s edition will feature links to partner guitar centres, including San Sebastian, Oberhausen, Kolbotn in Norway, Madrid, Kaluga, Dresden, Vilnius, Minsk, Prague and Moscow. It offers a wonderful opportunity to set another unofficial record: the Online Guitar Record.

The Guitar Record is open to all music lovers. To participate, all you need is a basic knowledge of five chords, C, G, D, A and E, to play Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe”. It can be performed on various string instruments, including homemade ones. Each year, alongside “Hey Joe”, new songs are prepared for everyone to play together, including “Little Wing” and “Wild Thing”. Skill matters less than enjoyment and authenticity. We therefore encourage experienced musicians and beginner guitarists of every age to take part.

The world’s largest guitar orchestra will be led by the event’s creator, Leszek Cichoński. This year, he celebrates 25 years of educational work. His “Blues – Rock Guitar Workshop” course, published 25 years ago, became a blues and rock bible for generations of guitarists. Thousands of guitar fans learnt from that course and his programmes on TVP’s educational television service. A “Gathering of Cichoński’s Students” is planned during this year’s festival, with many well-known guitarists, including Bartek Papierz, Krzysztof Kawałko and Russian virtuoso Roman Miroshnichenko, joining amateurs to break the Guinness World Record. Concerts featuring outstanding artists and virtuosos accompany the event.

This year's record attempt will feature British rock legends Status Quo, brilliant jazz guitarist Scott Henderson, power metal kings DragonForce, Dutch symphonic gothic stars Within Temptation and Poland's cult Dżem. American guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola has also confirmed his arrival.

Beyond concerts, Thanks Jimi Festival offers opportunities to play together, meet and exchange experiences. Its guiding idea is bringing generations together, building a sense of unity and having fun. Two years ago, the theme was “Guitar Families”, and more than 350 families came.

Last year, the slogan “Girl with a Guitar” brought more than 2,000 female fans of this beautiful instrument to Wrocław. Taking part and seeing several thousand guitars held aloft is an extraordinary experience. Even Eric Bardon and Steve Vai could not hide their surprise, radiating spontaneity and joy on stage. This year, participants in the Record will create the world’s largest guitar made of guitars and come together in a giant heart, because Wrocław is the Guitar Heart of Europe…