It’s that time of the year when guitarists and Jimi Hendrix fans everywhere trek to Poland for the annual “Thanks Jimi Festival”; a yearly guitar freakout where thousands from Poland and elsewhere gather to try and set a record for number of people playing Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” simultaneously.

The gig’s history goes back to a Blues Express workshop in 1997 where Leszek Cichonski, a Polish blues guitarist, found himself on stage with 17 other guitarists playing “Hey Joe” thus providing the incentive to answer the theological question of how many guitarists can fit into Wroclaw, Poland’s Main Market Square on the first day in May every year. Below is a list of the records, which, apparently, always need to be broken because the theological limit hasn’t been reached yet.

• In 2003 “Hey Joe” was played by 588 guitarists.
• In 2004 the number expanded to 916.
• In 2005 it went up to 1201.
• In 2006, 1581.
• In 2012, 7273. The musicians were led by Jimi Hendrix’s brother, Leon Hendrix.
• In 2019, 7423.
• In 2020, because of Fauci cruelty and madness, the event was held online, and 7998 guitarists strummed and boomed out the five chords of “Hey Joe”.
• In 2023, 7967 guitarists played.

The “Thanks Jimi Festival” will go live again for another record on 1 May 2024.  At this year’s festival thousands will join in and play 10 songs:

1. Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix, released as a single in 1966
2. Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix, released on the album “Are You Experienced? in 1967
3. Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix, released on the album “Electric Ladyland” in 1968
4. Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, released on the DP album “Machine Head” in 1972. Added to the festival lineup in 2009. The song was written in December 1971. Jimi died on 18 September 1970
5. Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix, released on the album “Axis: Bold as Love” in 1967
6. Wild Thing by the Troggs, released in 1966. Jimi played this song live at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 aka The Summer of Love
7. Red House Blues by Jimi Hendrix, released on the British version of “Are You Experience” in 1967
8. Thanks Jimmi, by Leszek Cichonski
9. Kiedy byłem małym chłopcem (When I was a little boy), Composition by Tadeusz Nalepa
10. Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan. This song was usually performed at Hendrix’s live shows

Long live Jimi.

Source: Everything you need to know about the Guitar World Record (https://heyjoe.pl/summary/). Photo of Wroclaw, Poland’s Main Market Square during the “Thanks Jimi Festival.” Photo of Hendrix in Sweden, 1967. Public domain.