JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Today is a national holiday in South Africa. It's Heritage Day, which celebrates the country's diverse cultures. Many are celebrating with a tradition that crosses racial and cultural lines - barbecue, or as it's known in South Africa, a braai. In fact, today, thousands of people are trying to set the world record for the biggest one ever. As they fired up their grills, NPR's Kate Bartlett was there.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Loftus Stadium. Happy Heritage Day.
KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: The charcoal has been lit, and the braai masters are at their stations.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Today, we break the record for the biggest braai in the world. Nobody braais like South Africans, guys.
BARTLETT: It's summer in South Africa. The sun is shining, and thousands of people have turned out at the big rugby stadium in the capital city, Pretoria, to take part in a Guinness World Record book challenge to hold the world's biggest braai.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one - let's go.
(CHEERING)
BARTLETT: Gas is a definite no-no in South Africa. It has to be over an open flame, either on charcoal or wood.
So what do you guys usually put on your braai at home?
KIAN BOSHOFF: So you'll definitely get a piece of wors, which is sausage, obviously. You'll get a lekker piece of steak.
BARTLETT: Kian Boshoff, 26, is taking part in the mass braai event with friends.
BOSHOFF: You'll get pork chops, lamb chops.
BARTLETT: The list, in fact, is endless. Central to it, boerewors, or wors, for short. It's a kind of spicy sausage and is a traditional food of Afrikaners, white descendants of Dutch and European settlers, but now it's beloved by everyone. The other secret of the South African braai - don't turn up hungry.
BOSHOFF: You don't know how many brandies, how many beers, how many glasses of wine is going to first happen before that braai even starts.
BARTLETT: (Laughter).
BOSHOFF: So if they say the braai starts at 11 in the morning, you know, for a fact, you're going to braai 10 at night.
BARTLETT: Here at the stadium event, Nelson Mandela's famous Rainbow Nation is on full display with Black, white and Indian South Africans all having a great day out together. Tlhongi Kgopa is manning a braai station.
TLHONGI KGOPA: I think we're a nation that really loves meat (laughter). That's something that we share across cultures.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I want to know. Are there any Zulu people here at Loftus?
(CHEERING)
BARTLETT: Leo Moloele is clearly enjoying himself.
LEO MOLOELE: The taste of our South African meat - on fire, marvelous.
BARTLETT: He says today shows a united country.
MOLOELE: What are our different cultures? I mean, we have got 12 or 11 official languages. Everyone coming together as one but showcasing their different cultures, their different heritages.
BARTLETT: As to whether or not they broke the record, the result's still cooking.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Last but not least, South Africans, are you here?
(CHEERING)
BARTLETT: Kate Bartlett, NPR News, Pretoria.
(SOUNDBITE OF KENDRICK LAMAR SONG, "SQUABBLE UP") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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