A world record attempt by Armagh’s legendary guitarist and vocalist, Martin Rafferty has officially been certified… but not by the original governing body!
Marty and his troupe of support acts, The Orchard County Band took on the gruelling ‘busk-a-thon’ feat in August of last year. They did so with the aim of not only beating the existing 24-hour world record but to also raise money towards a Christmas Toy Appeal for local low-income families.
The record attempt was part of a cross-community fundraising appeal in partnership with the West Armagh Consortium and raised over £14,000!
Related: Armagh musician aims to ‘strum’ his way to world record while raising funds for local toy appeal
Their effort attracted the attention of both local and national press for Marty managed to play on – with a broken thumb – for a whopping 27 hours, one minute and 58 seconds.
It was adjudicated over by globally recognised Guinness World Records. They set they standards and the rules for the attempt.
And, the rules were strict!
The biggest one was that Marty had to remain on stage playing an instrument for the full duration, one person had to be playing at all times throughout the attempt and Marty could only take a 20-minute break after each four-hour block.
However, now seven months on from their momentous achievement and the new record-holder has had to have it officially certified by a body that wasn’t Guinness World Records!
Celebrating the recognition – which came from “biggest rival” Official World Record – Marty said: “After sending Guinness World records all info and files regarding our World record attempt multiple times as requested, seven months in, we’ve received little to no communication.
Related: Armagh musicians break World Record and raise over £13,000 for Christmas toy appeal
“Their biggest rival ‘Official World Record’ got in touch over a month ago, so we sent them the exact same files/info we sent to Guinness and are now very proud to announce that we have been officially recognised worldwide for breaking the ‘Longest Marathon Busking Record’, performing for 27hrs 1min and 58secs.”
Continued Marty: “As a musician, this was obviously one of the biggest challenges that I personally have ever undertaken and I definitely couldn’t have done it without the help of Liam White of Philip White Tyres, who was the brains behind the whole operation and the phenomenal “Orchard County Band” Mark Bratton, Matthew Lennon, Stephen Smyth, Sarah Vallely, Eoin Kelly and Mark McCrilly.
“Not forgetting also, that the challenge was all for a great cause, as we ended up raising over £14,000 for the West Armagh Consortium’s ‘Secret Santa’ appeal.
“We couldn’t have achieved any of this without the help of so many great people behind the scenes. We honestly can’t thank you all enough and hopefully haven’t forgot anybody.”
Armagh I have contacted Guinness World Records for clarity on why it has taken so long for Marty’s record to be recognised.
Updates will be published when made available.
