葡萄牙1.4萬(wàn)圣誕老人游行 創(chuàng )新紀錄
來(lái)源：網(wǎng)絡(luò )來(lái)源 2009-08-29 21:00:00
More than 14,000 people dressed as Santa Clauses paraded in Portugal's city of Porto on Sunday to try to set a new world record for the largest gathering of Santas and raise money for charity.
Despite cold weather and drizzling rain, the crowd in red-and-white hats and jackets, including scores of women and children with fake white beards, strolled through the city streets singing songs and dancing in the annual parade that started in the afternoon and continued after dark.
"It's not just a gathering of people at the time of the year when people normally get together, but it is also a social event to bring the warmth of Christmas to those who don't always have it," Vitor Ferreira, one of the organizers of the event, told reporters.
Every Santa, or Pai Natal (Father Christmas) as he is known in Portugal, who took part in the parade donated 1 euro to buy presents for the needy children in Porto, Portugal's second-largest city, Ferreira said.
He said 17,400 people had signed up to take part, although bad weather prevented some from parading. Still, over 14,200 showed up in the end, which organisers claimed to be record, according to RTP national television channel.
According to the Guinness World Records web site (http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com), the previous world record for the largest gathering of Santas was set last year in Derry City, Northern Ireland, where a total of 12,965 people took part dressed up as Santa or Santa's helpers.
上周日，一萬(wàn)四千多人裝扮成“圣誕老人”參加在葡萄牙波爾圖市舉行的大游行，此次活動(dòng)旨在創(chuàng )造規模最大的圣誕老人集會(huì )的世界紀錄，另一個(gè)目的則是為慈善募款。
此次一年一度的圣誕老人游行從當天下午開(kāi)始，一直持續到傍晚。盡管天氣寒冷，天空飄著(zhù)細雨，但穿戴著(zhù)紅白相間的帽子和衣服的“圣誕老人”們熱情不減，他們沿街而行，載歌載舞，游行隊伍中還有幾十名戴著(zhù)白色大胡子的婦女和兒童。
活動(dòng)組織者之一維托?費雷拉在接受記者采訪(fǎng)時(shí)說(shuō)：“這不僅是每年一度的大聚會(huì )，更是一個(gè)重要的社會(huì )活動(dòng)，它把節日的溫暖帶給每一個(gè)人，尤其是那些窮人。”
費雷拉稱(chēng)，參與此次游行的每位“圣誕老人（葡語(yǔ)中被稱(chēng)為PaiNatal）”都捐款1歐元，為波爾圖的貧困兒童購買(mǎi)圣誕禮物。波爾圖為葡萄牙第二大城市。
他說(shuō)，共有17400人報名參加此次活動(dòng)，但因天氣原因，一些人沒(méi)來(lái)參加。盡管如此，據葡萄牙RTP廣播電視公司報道，最終共有14200人參加了此次活動(dòng)，組織者稱(chēng)這一數字創(chuàng )下了最新紀錄。
據吉尼斯世界紀錄網(wǎng)站(http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com)介紹，此前規模最大的“圣誕老人”集會(huì )紀錄于去年在北愛(ài)爾蘭的德里市誕生，當時(shí)共有12965人裝扮成圣誕老人或圣誕老人幫手參加了那次游行活動(dòng)。