Thousands of Smurfs, excited to be breaking the world record, on Saturday in Landerneau, France. Damien Meyer/Getty Images

More than 3,500 French people ignored warnings to avoid crowds amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and gathered on Saturday en masse for the most important possible reason: to break the world record for most people dressed as Smurfs.


According to UPI, 3,549 people dressed in blue gathered in Landerneau to break the previous world record, set in 2019, of 2,762 people. On Sunday, France banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people, so Saturday’s Smurfs made their bid for the record just in time.

“We figured we wouldn’t worry, and that as French people we wouldn’t give up on our attempt to break the record,” one Smurf (or Schtroumpf, in French) told AFP in a video of the event. “Now we’re champions of the world.”

Another Smurf chimed in: “It was more important. The coronavirus is no big deal. It’s nothing.”

The first Smurf agreed. “There’s no risk,” he said. “Yes, we’re going to Smurferize the coronavirus.”


France currently ranks fifth on the list of most affected countries, with 1,200 confirmed cases and 21 deaths.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to Tuesday’s episode of What Next. ﻿