By Ellen Hill for Escarpment Group Photos: David Hill
The Hydro Charleston Challenge retro dance event in the Blue Mountains achieved a personal best record with 466 dancers clad in 1920s costumed at the Majestic Hotel on Saturday.
Participants flocked to the famous historic hotel at Medlow Bath to try to break the Guinness World Record for the largest number of costumed people to dance the Charleston but sidestepped the global record.
The Charleston Challenge in the Blue Mountains broke the official world record three years in a row but was thumped by the town of Bexhill in the UK in August with 503 people followed by the attempt with 975 dancers in London validated by Guinness in October.
Hydro Charleston Challenge co-ordinator Angela Corkeron said: “It would have been fantastic to have brought the Ashes of the retro dance world back to Australia but we smashed our personal best record of 360 last year and still achieved our primary goal, which was to have fun at an activity the whole community could join in.
“It was fabulous to see so many smiling faces despite the rain. There was a real party atmosphere.
“So congratulations to our English dance partners – we’ll be back next year.’’
The Hydro Charleston Challenge and other Roaring 20s events at the Hydro Majestic paid homage to the decade when the Blue Mountains cut loose in an endless round of hedonism and showed that Mark Foy’s “Palace in the wilderness’’ led the modern local party scene.
The 2016 Hydro Charleston Challenge was preceded by a Gangster Casino Night and followed by the Majestic Long Lunch featuring picnic hamper boxes packed with regional delicacies, and the sophisticated Shanghai Nights to herald the Chinese lunar New Year.
Go to hydromajestic.com.au for more event, accommodation and dining option information at the Hydro Majestic Hotel.
Click HERE to see some of the action from the day.
Escarpment Group is a commercial client of Deep Hill Media and Headline Publicity
