Accordion performance in Xinjiang breaks Guinness record

A grand accordion performance is staged in Tacheng prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to challenge the Guinness World Record, August 20, 2016. [Photo/cnr.cn]

A total of 1,517 accordion performers co-played the melody Beautiful Tarbaghatai at Tacheng prefecture of Xinjiang on Saturday night for 7 minutes and 20 seconds, which challenged the Guinness World Record as the largest scale accordion performance in the world.

It broke the previous record of 1,361 people playing accordion together in Shenzhen of Guangdong province in 2014.

The performers of the previous record holder was collected nationwide, while this time, the performers were all amateurs from local Tacheng prefecture, except for seven accordion artists from Russia, Italy, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

To prepare for the challenge, the training started from March this year, and large performing teams were established in various regions in Tacheng, as well as an accordion association.

The accordion performers participating in the challenge included teachers, students, entrepreneurs, and retired employees, with the oldest 69 years old and youngest 7 years old. They were from 17 ethnic groups including Han, Kazak, Uyghur, Hui, Mongol, Daur, Tatar, and others.

The challenge features one of the events during the ongoing first Xinjiang Tacheng Accordion Art Festival, which is held to pass forward the distinctive accordion culture of Tacheng, and promote the cultural exchanges among the countries along the "Silk Road Economic Belt".