IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, will see its latest fundraising efforts up the ante with a unique New Years celebration. Midway attraction operator Ripley Entertainment has been verified by the Guinness World Records organisation as officially breaking the existing record for Largest Ball of Human Hair.
“Hoss the Hairball” beats the former titleholder by over 55 pounds and was initially created by Steve Warden of Ohio, US. Hoss surpassed 100 pounds two years ago and has since seen over three thousand people further contribute, now reaching over 223 pounds in mass.
All for a good cause
Ripley’s Shave the Beard and Make it Weird! campaign launched in November during this year’s IAAPA Expo 2021 held in Orlando, Florida.
The challenge invited attendees to help increase Hoss’ size, whilst raising funds for Give Kids The World Village, the 89-acre non-profit resort in Florida, USA. The charity provides magical weeklong wish vacations free of charge for critically ill children and their families.
A worldwide tradition
Hoss the Hairball joins bologna, a peach, and a high-heel shoe as one of the most bizarre items to be dropped as part of traditions around the world.
The USA is a hub of weird and wonderful symbolic drops, including the Georgia town of Tallapoosa, once nicknamed “Possum Snout”, which lowers a taxidermy possum covered in holiday lights. In Plymouth, Wisconsin, a huge wedge of Sartori cheese is dropped in the “Cheese Capital of the World“.
North Carolina’s Eastover drops a three-foot-high 30-pound ceramic flea named Jasper – the tradition stemming from the town’s historic nickname of Flea Hill. Just as bizarre, Boise in Idaho lowers a car-sized foam potato from a crane.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! will drop the huge hairball on 31 December 2021, with the show beginning just before midnight EST on Facebook Live.
Earlier this month IAAPA’s EMEA division announced its lineup of speakers for next year’s Middle East summit, to be held in February.
