On one of the busiest days of the year, RCMP issued a traffic advisory for Highway 11 at Dundurn, Sask. as the locals had prehistoric guests roaming the streets.
With a fun and a different way to celebrate Canada Day, Dundurn aimed to break the current world record of 380 inflatable dinosaurs. With over 1,163 people dressed in inflatable dinosaur costumes, it isn’t official, but the town and out-of-town guests celebrated the win.
“I’ve never been part of a world record before,” said Joel Sopp, World Record Attendee. “When (I was told) about it, I knew I had to come to Dundurn and try it.”
Dundurn’s local establishment, Big Mur’s Tavern, sponsored and organized the event. Owner Gary Grady first came up with idea of breaking the previous record back in November after seeing a video of Portland, Oregon celebrating their victory of a gathering of 380 inflatable T-Rex costumes in June 2022.
“I thought this would be a fun thing for Canada Day … I started throwing it out there on social media and talking to people about it, promoting it,” said Grady. “We had over 1200 pre-registered people, and we broke the record yesterday at 1163.”
People from all over travelled to support Dundurn’s attempt to break the world record with people coming as far as Arizona, Vancouver Island, Edmonton and Winnipeg as well as the locals and nearby towns.
“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was,” he said. “A lot of time (was) put into it and a lot of promoting of it.”
Once Grady puts everything together, they will be submitting all the necessary information to the Guiness World Records and wait for confirmation.
“Thanks to all the help in the volunteers and all the people for showing up with such great attitudes,” said Grady. “It was such a fun Canada Day for Dundurn Dinosaur Day.”
The day was a family-friendly event with bouncy castles, food trucks, music and entertainment. With the outstanding number of attendees, the Saskatoon RCMP advised motorists to expect delays on Highway #11 at Dundurn from 1-9 p.m. for this community event.