You can’t keep the sunshine away from Niagara Falls, Ont., even on a cloudy day.
The city set the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as the sun on Monday — hours before the total eclipse.
On a boat cruising near the falls, 309 people wearing yellow sun costumes overtop red rain ponchos smashed the previous record.
“Congratulations to everyone involved, making this special day even more memorable!” the city said in a news release.
The former record was set in 2020 by the China Life Insurance Company Ltd. when 287 people participated, Guinness World Record adjudicator Mike Marcotte told the crowd in Niagara Falls before presenting them and Mayor Jim Diodati an official certificate.
IT’S OFFICIAL! The City of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NiagaraFalls?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NiagaraFalls</a> has broken the Guinness World Record for ‘Largest gathering of people dressed as the sun’ with 309 participants!<br><br>The previous record was held by China Life Insurance Company Limited, which achieved the record in 2020 with 287… <a href=”https://t.co/VKCT1d0d50″>pic.twitter.com/VKCT1d0d50</a>
—@NiagaraFalls
Hours later, thousands of people watched another star spectacle in Niagara Falls — a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse.
The clouds parted around 3 p.m. ET, just in time for the crowd to watch the moon slide between the Earth and sun, creating a temporary twilight and drop in temperature.
This is not the city’s first world record. Among others, it holds the record for the most people howling like a wolf, which was earned at family resort Great Wolf Lodge by 803 people on July 1, 2017 — when the federal government marked Canada’s 150 birthday.
WATCH | Eclipse watchers cheer as they take in the event from McMaster University in Hamilton
A CBC drone captured the eclipse using timelapse video over McMaster University in Hamilton on April 8, 2024.