Kyle, Texas, located about 20 miles south of Austin, hosted a Gathering of the Kyles in a bid to break a Guinness World Record last weekend but sadly failed to round up enough Kyles.
The town has been trying to break the existing Guinness World Record for the largest same-name gathering currently held by a gathering of 2,325 Ivans in Kupreski Kosci, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The attempt on May 21 was its fourth, and although an impressive array of Kyles of all ages and sexes showed up, it fell short of the goal at 1,490.
The Gathering of the Kyles coincided with the 2023 Kyle Fair A Tex-Travaganza — a weekend of fun for Kyles and non-Kyles alike featuring margarita and ribs competitions, fireworks, live music, and lots of rides, as The Dallas Express reported.
Although the record remained unbroken, the event brought together Kyles from 49 of the 50 states, including Hawaii and Alaska. A fair number of Canadian Kyles were in the mix as well, generating a vibrant and memorable experience for all attendees.
Hailing from Los Angeles, Kyle Peters drove for days to try and help the town beat the world record.
“It’s a really charming little town,” Peters told KXAN. His friends had spotted the posts on social media about the event, and that was enough for him to make the trip with his dog.
Another Kyle traveling from afar was Kyle Sasaki from Honolulu. He noted how unique it was to find himself in a crowd of Kyles.
“People will just yell out ‘Kyle,’ and I’ll just automatically turn,” Sasaki told KXAN. “Of course everyone’s named Kyle, so it’s really funny. So yeah, it’s just great to see just, I don’t know, the diversity of Kyles.”
Indeed, a good number of female Kyles turned up, as one commenter on the town’s Facebook post attested.
“There were 35 of us girl Kyle’s that posed for a picture. It was amazing to see so many girls named Kyle,” she wrote.
The photo she posted showed a group of female Kyles of all ages standing in front of an RV with a giant “Hello My Name is Kyle” name tag slapped on the side.
Plans for the next Kyle Fair A Tex-Travaganza and Gathering of the Kyles record-breaking event are already in the works, according to Kyle city officials.
The occasion is tentatively planned for May 17-19, 2024, so all of you Kyles are urged to keep that weekend free!
“We look forward to putting on an even bigger, better attempt at this record and hope that Kyles far and wide help us spread the word in order to break this long-standing record,” said the town officials in a Facebook post.
