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Every August since 1984, the small village of Romedenne has hosted the Wheelbarrow Festival. Its main attraction is the wheelbarrow race, in which teams must complete a route of approximately 4.5 km as quickly as possible while pushing a decorated wheelbarrow.
In 1998, for the festival’s 15th anniversary, the organizers set themselves the challenge of building the largest wheelbarrow in the world. Having to beat the record held by a village in the Jura region of France, they built a 56.96-foot-long, 16.93-foot-wide, and 18.18-foot-high wheelbarrow. It was a community effort, with local merchants donating most of the building materials. And their efforts paid off: in 1999, Guinness World Records officially recognized Romedenne’s wheelbarrow as the largest in the world.
But who holds the record today? The answer is rather complicated. In 2015, Guinness World Records approved a new record for a wheelbarrow in Boke, Germany, measuring 37 feet long, meaning that the record was given to a smaller wheelbarrow. The village of Saligny in the Vendée, France, also claims the record, but with a length of around 26.25 feet and a height of 9.84 feet, its wheelbarrow doesn’t come close to the other two.
So, while three villages contest the title, Romedenne still boasts the world’s largest wheelbarrow, even if the Guinness World Record no longer says so. It was restored in 2015, now allowing visitors to climb in and ensuring it’s unlikely to break down anytime soon.
The 2025 festival drew 2,000 participants from around the world to compete in the wheelbarrow race. Visitors can return in 2026 to celebrate the 41st year of the festival and commemorate the wheelbarrow that was unjustly deprived of its record.
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