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Splashmob: 95,000 sign up for water fight
By Ellen Widdup, Evening Standard 13.04.07
Wet one: Dan Hammill hopes to set a new record
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When Dan Hamill decided to organise a water fight in Hyde Park he hoped a handful of his friends from university would join in the fun.
But three months after posting his plans on the Facebook website, almost 100,000 willing participants have come forward.
He now hopes to break the world record for the biggest ever flash mob with the event.
The water fight will last just 10 minutes, starting at 1pm on Saturday 14 July.
Mr Hamill, 20, a music student from Clapham, said he had suggested the water fight as a good way to celebrate the start of the summer but within 24 hours of mentioning it to friends, word had spread and 5,000 people had signed up to take part.
Today, his page on Facebook - which has become one of the most popular social networking websites in the UK - boasts 75,000 registered "friends".
The plans have also been forwarded to other users on the site, amassing 20,000 more supporters.
Mr Hamill said: "I had no idea it was going to get so big so quickly but if it keeps growing we will have created an event which could go down in the history books.
"Essentially you are looking at one mighty group of people armed to the teeth with water pistols. It could get messy."
Aspokesman for the Royal Parks said it had not been notified of the plan. "We are not party poopers and will be party hosts to this stunt if we can," he said. "We appreciate the idea behind flashmobbing is that it is spontaneous but it does pose serious safety concerns and we would like to speak to organisers to make the day run smoothly.
"These types of events are usually harmless but 1,000 people would be a lot to control, let alone 100,000."
The record for the biggest number of participants in a flash mob event is 3,500.
www.facebook.com/event. php?eid=2246518077
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