Calling All Kyles: The city of Kyle, Texas is hosting a Kyle Fair, hoping to break the world record for the largest gathering of the same name. The event will take place on May 21 at, of course, Lake Kyle Park.
Whether you’re Kyle Lowry, Kyle Mooney, Kyle Richards, Kyle MacLachlan, or Kyle Schwarber, all Kyles are welcome, as long as you spell it that way.
The city has attempted to break the record three times before. Kyle’s archenemy: Ivan. The city of Kupreski Kosci in Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered 2,325 people named Ivan in 2017, setting the world record.
“We need tall Kyles, short Kyles, young Kyles and old Kyles to get closer to the record set five years ago,” said Claudia Rocha, City of Kyle’s manager of special events. he said in a statement. “We are very excited about the upcoming inaugural Kyle Fair and have high hopes that this event brings the Kyles needed to earn a place in the record books.”
Previous attempts to break the record have drawn Kyles from as far away as Massachusetts, the city says.
The event, dubbed Kyle Fair, A Tex-Travaganza, will take place May 19-21, but on the last day, all the Kyles will gather for a group photo. Admission to the fair is free.
Large eponymous gatherings have made headlines before. In 2020, a man named Josh Swain challenged others with the same full name to meet him in Nebraska, “precisely 4/24/2021, 12:00 pm.”
“We fight, whoever wins gets the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck,” he said in a Facebook message to teammate Josh Swains.
The plans caught on, and about a year later, hundreds of others people named Josh showed up for the “battle” each other. They kept the fighting PG, with pool noodle battles and a massive game of rock-paper-scissors.
The Last Josh – A 14-year-old boy affectionately called “Little Josh” by others. The winner, who was there with his father, Josh Vinson Sr., was honored with a Burger King paper crown that was too big for his head.
Josh’s fight wasn’t just a spectacle for Nebraskans and those who watched online. The event raised money for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation in Omaha, which is why Little Josh is perhaps the most deserving winner of the hundreds of Joshes, having spent time at Children’s Hospital when he suffered from seizures at age 2.
Caitlin O’Kane
