On Friday, Minnesotans will attempt to break the world’s tree-hugging record — and on University of Minnesota soil.
To celebrate National Public Gardens Day, an annual celebration of botanical gardens and arboreta’s role in environmental education, the University Landscape Arboretum is holding a “tree hug” from noon to 1 p.m. in the Arboretum’s Shade Tree Exhibit.
The world record for the largest tree hug is currently held by the United Kingdom’s Forestry Commission, which hosted a 702-person tree hug in the Delamere Forest in Cheshire, U.K. in September 2011, according to Guinness World Records.
National Public Gardens Day occurs every year on the Friday before Mother’s Day, an informal start of springtime when the environment is on people’s minds, according to the event’s website.
To celebrate the day, the Arboretum will be free to the public all day and hold activities and prize giveaways from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.