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Efforts to set a World Record for people dancing in wooden shoes appear to have the record in the bag, but organizers are hoping to raise the bar yet again. The initial goal of 1,000 dancers surrounding Pella’s downtown square on Saturday May 8th as been surpassed, as over 1,400 participants have registered online for the event, according to Bonnie Verberg with the Pella Historical Society.

Verberg says hopes are to now have 2000 participants – well over the existing record of 475. Verberg says hitting 2000 would earn Pella bragging rights over another U.S. city with a proud Dutch tradition.

“There’s a town up in Michigan that thinks they have at least 1200 every year, and so I think we need to shatter that record and get over two thousand.”

Verberg is, of course, referring to Holland, Michigan, which has nearly five times as many residents as Pella. She adds that she’s excited to see the number of participants continue to grow, and has been impressed by the distances in which some people are planning to travel to take part in the record-breaking event.

“The registrations are still streaming in. They’re coming from all over the United States, [and] so far we’ve got twenty-five states represented. Now to me, that’s pretty impressive,” said Verberg. “We’ve also got some from foreign countries. We have them from Luxembourg, Brussels and South Africa coming.”

Participants can register online at www.PellaTulipTime.com or stop by the Vermeer Mill Interpretive Center and sign up through April 30th.

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