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St Andrews University plans world record dance event

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St Andrews University is hoping to smash the world record for the biggest ever Scottish country dance.

Students want to bring town and gown together to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever Strip the Willow.

The previous record saw 1,914 dancers take to the streets of Edinburgh, on December 30 2000, as part of the city’s Hogmanay celebrations at the Night Afore Fiesta.

Now members of the university’s Athletic Union want to set a new record, as part of the celebrations for the institution’s 600th anniversary.

The event, on March 10, will see music played throughout St Andrews and the town’s South Street shut off and transformed into a giant dance floor.

Strip the Willow sees couples, usually in sets of four, form a line with the objective to move the top couple to the bottom of the set, and the other couples moving up one position at a time.

Organisers said they would not have all the participants in one long line, joking it might take a “month to complete”, but will split them into sets of eight, double the usual size.

The students are aiming to get schools, community groups, university staff and townspeople to join them in the attempt. The Cutting Edge Ceilidh Band will be providing live ceilidh music on the day.

Emily Griffiths, president of the Athletic Union at the university, said: “It’s no easy task to beat this record.

“It will need all hands on deck and as many people as possible to make sure they turn up on the day, if we are to succeed.

“The project aims to celebrate the university’s 600th anniversary and also raise awareness of the Healthy Body Healthy Mind award, which the university supports in conjunction with Scottish Student Sport.

“We want to make it a real town and gown event and get the whole community involved, and I think this a great opportunity to do something really special in St Andrews.”

A Facebook page set up to advertise the event has already had nearly 1,000 likes.

Details are available on the Facebook page St Andrews Strip The Willow World Record Attempt.