Where ISN'T Wally? 930 fans put on bobble hats and glasses to break world record


It normally takes patience and good eyesight to spot the hero of the Where's Wally children's books in his red and white striped outfit.

But visitors to a seaside resort had a rather easier job yesterday at Britain's biggest ever gathering of Where's Wally characters.

Instead of struggling to find Wally on the page of a book, it was more a case of trying to work out, 'Where Isn't Wally?'



World record attempt: 930 Where's Wally fans donned bobble hats and striped jumpers and gathered in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Bank Walliday Monday: The fans narrowly missed achieving a new world record after the overcast weather drew a smaller crowd than expected

A total of 930 people of all ages dressed up as the character in his trademark red and white striped shirt, bobble hat and rimmed glasses.

The fans tried to set a new world record for the greatest number of Wally characters in one place by crowding into the town centre at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Iconic: Books featuring the Where's Wally character have been published in 28 countries

But there were too few of them to break the previous record when 1,052 Wally characters gathered in April last year in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

The attempt in Norfolk was organised by the Great Yarmouth Town Centre Partnership in a bid to get the town into the Guinness Book of Records.

Those taking part paid £6 each to buy a Where's Wally outfit of striped shirt, bobble hat and glasses.

But the overcast weather is believed to have kept many participants away on the day which was billed as Bank Wallyday Monday.

It followed an earlier bid in Great Yarmouth last October when 901 people dressed up on the town.

The first attempt was thwarted when 300 of the 1,200 people who bought outfits in advance failed to turn up on the day.

Great Yarmouth town centre manager Jonathan Newman said he had hoped many of those who took part last time would turn up again yesterday.

He also had another 1,000 outfits for sale yesterday and managed to sell 550 of them to Wally newcomers - but it was not enough.

Mr Newman said: 'It is a great shame that we didn't break the world record and it is fair to say I am quite disappointed.

'But we can still console ourselves with the fact that everyone had fun and it was certainly the biggest ever gathering of Wallys in Britain.

'It seemed like there were a lot more people taking part last October and I was hopeful that the record was going to be broken.

'But everyone had to register on the day to make their appearance count and it is possible that some people were dressed up and didn't register.

'I will be studying the aerial photographs that were taken to see if I can estimate the number of Wallys just in case there were more than the old record.

'We will have to think carefully about whether we will try and set the record for a third time. I will have to see what people say over the next few days.'

The first of the seven main Where's Wally books was published in 1987 by British illustrator Martin Handford.

The books feature double page spreads of the distinctive explorer character hidden in a montage of scenes through the ages.

The books have been published in 28 countries and have also been turned into a TV series comic strip and video games.

Wally has different names in many countries - but always wears the same outfit. He is known as Waldo in the USA, Hugo in Sweden, Willy in Norway and Charlie in France.