Fire up the grills! Thousands of South Africans try to set a record for the biggest cookout

PRETORIA: Armed with their tongs and sausages, thousands of determined — and hungry — South Africans gathered on a national holiday Thursday to attempt to break the world record for the biggest cookout. The record to beat for most people grilling simultaneously was 2,220, set in Japan's Ishigaki City in 2023. The South African hopefuls, who were denied in a failed attempt last year, poured into a sports stadium in the capital, Pretoria, to take up their positions around 500 grilling stations. Organizers said they expected around 3,000 participants. The strict rules, according to a Guinness World Records adjudicator who watched over the attempt, were: Everyone needs to be barbecuing simultaneously for a minimum of five minutes to be counted. 'And if anyone leaves, they do get disqualified,' said the adjudicator, Paulina Sapinska, who wore a blue blazer and tie and held an official-looking clipboard as she monitored the mass sausage and burger grilling. Cooking meat outside on a wood, charcoal or gas fire is a beloved South African pastime, just as it is in the United States, Australia and elsewhere. It's called a 'braai' in South Africa, and one of the favorite meats is a fat, curled up sausage known as boerewors — which translates as farmer's sausage. But there were also burgers, steaks and chops to grill for the record attempt. The mass cookout came on Heritage Day, a national holiday where people in multiracial and multicultural South Africa are encouraged to show off and celebrate their own specific heritage. The holiday has become known informally as 'Braai Day' because the love of the cookout is shared by people across the country and it's how many South Africans celebrate it. Participant Alex Coetzee said he also took part in the 2025 record attempt, when South Africa fell short because too many people left their grilling stations. 'It's gonna be better (this time),' said Coetzee, who wore a shirt emblazoned with the colors of the South African flag. 'We're actually gonna break the world record now. South Africans have the record and that's the most important part.' But was this year's attempt well done, or did it go up in smoke? Sapinska, the Guinness World Records adjudicator, kept the country on a knife edge by saying she and other officials were reviewing the evidence and that the final word on if there was a new world cookout champion might only come on Friday.