The Guinness World Records are always fun to follow—and Virginia holds its own in them. Learn some weird and wonderful Virginia world records.
Maybe you’ve seen the signs on a road trip when you’re driving through a new town: “Home of the Guinness World Record for…” the world’s largest glove (you can find it in Phoenix, Arizona), or the biggest-ever sculpture made of canned food (carefully constructed in Moline, Illinois). Guinness World Records are fun and often a little zany.
But what if you could find Guinness World Record holders right in your own state? Well, for Virginians, that’s absolutely possible. There is a wide variety of Guinness World Record holders in the Dogwood State, including individuals (and animals), record-breaking groups and gatherings, and extraordinary inanimate objects.
While the following list isn’t exhaustive, these are some of the most surprising, offbeat, and just plain fun Guinness World Record holders you can find in Virginia.
1. A giant peach worthy of James himself
You’d think that the world’s largest peach would be found in Georgia, or maybe, if you watched the animated movie “James and the Giant Peach,” you liked the idea of an enormous peach pit in Central Park. Wrong on both accounts—the world’s largest peach was grown in Virginia! The peach in question, grown by Henry Chiles of Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet, weighed in at a hefty 1.83 pounds, and appears closer in size to a pumpkin than a standard peach! Sadly, still too small for the pit to make a cozy Central Park cottage, though.
2. A ham biscuit too big to bite through
There’s a reason Virginia ham is beloved among pork enthusiasts across America, but, surprisingly, ham biscuits aren’t as well-known outside the southern US. That’s a shame, because ham biscuits are delicious, and in Smithfield, at least one is bigger than you could imagine. That’s because Smithfield, a town long famous for producing high-quality ham, is also the home of the world’s largest ham biscuit. The biscuit was crafted in 2002 to celebrate the town’s 250th anniversary, and was eight feet wide, over a foot tall, and filled with a feast-worthy 500 pounds of Smithfield’s finest ham!
3. A legendary collection of Zelda merchandise
You might be a fan of the “Legend of Zelda” video games, but can you match the enthusiasm of Constantine Adams? This Fairfax-based software engineer holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest collection of “Zelda” memorabilia as of 2025. Adams, who has loved video games since he was a young child, has over 3,000 Zelda-related items in his collection, which he said began as a spinoff of an earlier, more general video game-themed collection.
4. A record-breaking gathering of mermaids
Not all Guinness World Records are held by individuals. Some are held by groups, and in Manassas, one is held by a group of mermaids. Specifically, MerMagic Con, which holds the record for the world’s largest mermaid convention. This event, which draws performers and artists from across the world to a Manassas aquatic center, is home to underwater displays, classes and seminars, and even advice on professional trademarking from “The Mermaid Lawyer!” While the 2026 convention will not be held in Virginia, there’s no word on whether it will approach the size of the record-holding Manassas event.
5. A truly unique feat of architecture: The Peake Building
At an initial glance, there’s nothing especially zany about the Peake Building, an office building located in the town of Appalachia. However, look a little closer, and you might see the Peake Building’s secret, which has earned it a Guinness World Record: built on the curving slopes of a mountain town near the Kentucky line, the Peake Building is the first building in the world that can be accessed on four floors, all from street level! You can’t go inside the building today, and it’s been undergoing extensive renovations, but you can still see its unique sloping shape if you drive through town.
6. Fancy, the world’s oldest horse
One of Virginia’s most recently awarded Guinness World Records went to a very fancy lady indeed. Specifically, to Fancy, who was born on Apr. 1, 1988, and recently earned the title of world’s oldest horse. This sweet brown mare lives in Aldie with owner Paige Sigmon Blumer, who’s had Fancy since she was eight years old, and her equine companion was 12. While Fancy no longer has human riders, she still goes for regular walks and spends time in her pasture with Rosie, her donkey friend.
7. Luray Caverns’ remarkable organ
World records or not, Luray Caverns, home of countless extraordinary natural rock formations, is a cool place to visit. But while you take in the sights, you might also try to take in the sounds of the caverns’ record-breaking organ, which spans over three acres. The Great Stalacpipe Organ is the fruit of a three-year project by mathematician and scientist Leland W. Sprinkle, who harnessed the power of the stalactites in the caverns to make sounds when struck with special rubber-tipped mallets, thus creating the record-holding world’s largest natural underground musical instrument.
8. The home of a whole lot of hummus
Even if you think of hummus as Mediterranean, rather than Virginian, you probably know that the hummus you find in your grocery store was likely made stateside. In fact, there’s a decent chance it was made in Chesterfield County, as that’s home to Sabra Dipping Company’s facility. Following a large expansion, the site now holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest hummus facility. Sabra’s hummus is found in grocery stores around the United States and abroad, and all of its American products are proudly made in Virginia.
9. Virginia Beach’s miles of fun
There are beaches in Virginia, and then there’s Virginia Beach. The name lends itself to both a city and an actual beach, and it’s the latter that breaks records. Specifically, Virginia Beach is the world’s longest “pleasure beach,” that is, a beach that’s open to the public with amenities for people to relax and enjoy themselves. Spanning 28 miles of beach and a further 10 miles of estuary, there’s room for everyone to enjoy Virginia Beach, and plenty of places to stay with over 100 hotels and more than 2,000 campsites.
