WORLD RECORD BREAKERS!
Sheffield is now home to a new world record after generous fans backed our bid to create the longest multi-club football scarf. A 186m chain representing clubs around the world was carried through Sheffield city centre as part of our project Around The World.
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The football meets digital art project toured Sheffield on a yellow bus, concluding with a stunning projection in the Peace Gardens. The previous world record for the longest chain of multi-club sports scarves dates back to 2024, when a chain more than 100 metres long was created to mark the launch of Kellogg’s Football Camps.
John Tomlinson, Joint CEO of Stand & Be Counted Theatre, said:
“With Around The World we wanted to celebrate the World Cup, be super international about it and break a world record for good measure.”
“Sheffield is the home of football and we are thrilled it is now home to a new football world record as well.”
The message behind Around The World is one of solidarity and peace during both the world’s biggest football tournament and Refugee Week.
Stand & Be Counted Theatre is the UK’s first theatre company of sanctuary and works with people of all ages seeking sanctuary. It has produced many football related projects previously, from creating a football song with Sheffield FC to designing football shirts.
Associate artist and event producer Muetesim Ahmed said:
“Football is a huge thing for us and people in general so Around The World is a good way to bring people together during the World Cup.”
“Art is the best way to promote harmony, creativity and solidarity.”
A full public programme of events ran at the Peace Gardens yesterday, including talks, podcasts, a quiz, wellbeing warmup and football sticker, badge-making and shirt activities.
The yellow school bus had exciting augmented reality features to discover and the project also included an augmented reality football shirt element and an arcade football game. Art created by Sheffielders during the project was beamed onto the bus in the Peace Gardens alongside a performance from Palestinian artist and poet Farah Chamma to finish the celebrations.
Around The World is also organised in collaboration with Yellow Bus Events, Sheffield Home of Football and Football Unites Racism Divides, and supported by Counterpoints Arts, Arts Cuncil England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation as part of Sheffield’s Migration Matters Festival.
Photography by Smart Jervas Banda & Tom Doona
