Larne Bonfire nearing completion (Photo: Kevin Scott)
Bonfire makers in Larne are celebrating, saying this year’s bonfire is a world record height.
Bonfires will be lit in unionist communities across Northern Ireland on Thursday evening, ahead of the biggest day of the parade season.
The height of Craigiehill crematorium will exceed 202 feet in 2022, beating the previous world record of 198 feet set in Lustenau, Austria in March 2019, although no official Guinness World Records adjudicators were present to verify the claim.
On Wednesday this year, the Craigiehill Bonfire page said: “Northern Ireland has been hit by severe weather over the past 24 hours which has made for a very long night.
“Some people were worried that we were aiming for the longest bonfire in Northern Ireland, not the tallest (laughs).
“All joking aside, a land surveying company called LSS, one of the largest surveying companies in Ireland, came this morning and took all the necessary measurements of every point on our green from the top to the bottom of the bonfire and measured the height of the bonfire at 205ft 6ins.”
The post added: “The second company, Clifford & Gregg, a well-established company with serious technical equipment, are finalising three day scans of the bonfire and have informed us that the bonfire’s dimensions are 205ft 269in – which is incredible especially after what we went through that night.
“So we broke the record again… what an accomplishment for this team.
“Craigie Hill Bonfire is World’s Best Again.”
Man parachutes from 200ft bonfire
Organizers said details would be passed on to Guinness World Records.
“All these statues, along with documents and scans signed and witnessed by two authorized persons, will be submitted to the Guinness World Records to be recorded as the tallest statues in the world,” they said.
“Once again, we thank you all for your continued support. But it’s time to party.”