PRETORIA, South Africa — The world record for the biggest barbecue in history is being attempted at a rugby stadium, by a nation that treats grilling the way other nations treat infrastructure: with a degree of commitment that borders on the sacred, and a schedule that is, at best, aspirational.

Thousands of South Africans turned out at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Heritage Day to take part in a Guinness World Record attempt for the biggest-ever “braai”, the local word for barbecue, which translates literally as “to grill” and carries, in practice, the full emotional weight of a national referendum. The rules, per the Guinness adjudicator stationed at the north end zone, were strict: the meat had to be on open flame, no gas, and the grilling had to be simultaneous for at least five minutes to count. Five minutes. For a national holiday.

"If they say the braai starts at 11 in the morning, you know for a fact you're going to be braaiing until ten at night," said one participant, laughing, in a way that suggested he had never once been wrong about this.

The event’s emcee, working a microphone in the stadium bowl with the energy of a sports broadcaster, counted down to the start of the challenge before addressing the crowd by ethnicity. “I want to know, are there any Zulu people here? Any Xhosa people… any Afrikaners?” he called out, each group answering with a cheer that, in the case of the last one, sounded slightly more organized than the others.

One braai master, who had been tending his station for the full duration of the attempt, described his workload. “Around 300 kilograms,” he said, when asked how much meat a single professional grill station requires for a 30-hour event. He said this the way other people describe a weekend.

THE OFFICIAL BRAAI ODDS & OUTCOMES

  • Gas grill: disallowed. The adjudicator will know. He has a clipboard.
  • Minimum simultaneous grilling: five minutes. The event is 30 hours.
  • Boerewors: required. Pap: also required. Chakalaka: spiritually required.
  • Start time, as advertised: 11 a.m. Start time, actual: whenever.
  • Official verdict on the record: "still cooking," per the organizers.

The verdict on whether the record was actually set is, as of press time, “still cooking,” a phrase the organizers use with the full unselfconscious literalness of people who have been standing in front of open charcoal for a day and a half. The result is expected to be announced this week, at which point the stadium will either have a new world record or the world will continue to be exactly as it was, which the braai masters described as “also a fine outcome.”

At press time, the charcoal was still lit. A woman in traditional dress, holding a plate of boerewors and a beer, was interviewed near the parking lot and offered a single assessment of the entire endeavor: “Nobody braais like South Africans.” She was then asked to define “nobody.” She looked at the stadium. She did not finish the sentence.