The large crowd gathered in Times Square in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest caroling group ever. The Broadway stars were joined by the carolers from the Old Navy holiday commercials to help support the work of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS .
"We had such an amazing time today coming together for Broadway Cares," stated Old Navy Director of Public Relations Jonathan Finn. BC/EFA Executive Director Tom Viola added "The Broadway community has long been a big supporter of our organization, helping us to raise funds for AIDS-related causes across the country. We're very grateful to Old Navy for their support and were thrilled to be a part of this incredible event!"
Thought the attempt was admirable, the event did not reach the current record. According to the official Guinness World Records, the current record-holder for largest caroling service is held by The City of Cambridge in Ontario, Canada. The record breaking event took place on Dec. 20, 2003 in the Civic Square as 1,175 carolers sang for 28 minutes.
The hotly-contested record is also up for breaking by two other groups (official verification can take up to six weeks). Elk Grove, Ohio residents amassed 2,402 singers Nov. 27 and Medford, Massachusetts only three days later (Nov. 30) gathered 3,869 people to carol.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is the nation's leading industry based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization. Since it was founded in 1988, BC/EFA has raised and distributed over $100 million to services for people with AIDS, HIV or HIV related illnesses.