GRAND RAPIDS — The Judy Garland Festival and Mobility Mania are no strangers to world records.
In 2014, the festival gathered 1,093 people to break the Guinness World Record for most dressed in Wizard of Oz costumes.
The nonprofit Mobility Mania was born after a 2015 fundraising event that set a Guinness World Record for the longest consecutive line of wheelchairs rolling.
This year — the 50th anniversary of the Judy Garland Museum — the two organizations are joining forces to make another Guinness World Record attempt. They will try to get the most wheelchairs dancing at one time on Saturday, June 21, at Miner’s Pavilion at Yanmar Arena in Grand Rapids.
Members of the Itasca Orchestra Strings Program will perform “Over the Rainbow” while the wheelchairs dance. Registration begins at 3 p.m. with the attempt at 5 p.m. In between, there will be a Wizard of Oz Carnival with games, music, characters and food trucks.
Mobility Mania’s Myrna Peterson said, “Our goal is to find mobility challenged people, whether they use a wheelchair or they have a visual impairment or hearing impairment and mental impairment. If they can come with a wheelchair, we'll have an able-bodied partner with them.”
They need at least 251 people in wheelchairs to break the record. Participants may register here, and volunteers may register here. They are also hoping for lots of spectators.
"We realized that unless you're personally involved with someone that has a mobility challenge, you really don't understand the need for accessibility," Peterson said.
Janie Heitz, executive director of the Judy Garland Museum, also joined our conversation. She shared other events from the festival and said that it will be the last one for a while, with festivals happening every three years from now on.
Find a full schedule for this year's Judy Garland Festival online, and listen to our full conversation above.
