Calling all Kyles: The City of Kyle, Texas, is holding a Kyle Fair, hoping to break the world record for largest same-name gathering. The event will be held on May 21 at, of course, Lake Kyle Park.
Whether you’re Kyle Lowry, Kyle Mooney, Kyle Richards, Kyle MacLachlan or Kyle Schwarber – all Kyles are welcome, as long as you spell it that way.
The city has attempted to break the record three times before. Kyle’s arch nemesis: Ivan. The city of Kupreski Kosci in Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered 2,325 people named Ivan in 2017, setting the world record.
“We need tall Kyles, short Kyles, young Kyles and old Kyles to get close to the record set five years ago,” City of Kyle Special Events Manager Claudia Rocha said in a statement. “We’re very excited about the upcoming, inaugural Kyle Fair and have high hopes that this event will bring out the Kyles needed to grab a spot in the record books.”
Previous attempts at breaking the record have attracted Kyles from as far away as Massachusetts, the city says.
The event – dubbed the Kyle Fair, A Tex-Travaganza – will be held May 19-21, but on the final day, all Kyles will gather for a group photo. Entrance to the fair is free.
Large same-name gatherings have made headlines before. In 2020, a man named Josh Swain challenged other people with the same full name to meet him in Nebraska, “precisely 4/24/2021, 12:00 PM.”
“We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck,” he said in a Facebook message to fellow Josh Swains.
The plans gained traction, and about one year later, hundreds of other people named Josh showed up to “battle” each other. They kept the fighting PG – with pool noodle battles and a massive game of rock, paper, scissors.
The ultimate Josh: A 14-year-old the others affectionately called “Little Josh.” The winner, who was there with his dad, Josh Vinson Sr., was honored with a paper Burger King crown – which was too big for his head.
The Josh fight wasn’t just a spectacle for Nebraskans and those who watched online. The event raised money for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation in Omaha — which is why Little Josh is perhaps the most deserving winner out of the hundreds of Joshes, as he spent time at Children’s Hospital when he suffered from seizures at 2 years old.
