BATROUN, north Lebanon: Batroun entered the Guinness Book of World Records Sunday for the largest cup of lemonade.

Around 400 participants took part in the event, which was part of the Batroun International Festival and organized by the Batroun Merchants’ Association in coordination with the city’s municipality.

The head of the Batroun Merchants’ Association, Farah al-Khoury, initially announced that squeezing the lemons would require the participation of 200 people. But Batroun residents displayed high enthusiasm, and the number of volunteers rose to 400.

They squeezed 2200 kilograms of lemon and they mixed the juice with 1000 kg of sugar, 3000 liters of water and 1000 kg of ice cubes.

Their efforts yielded 5200 liters of lemonade poured into a cup with a base circumference of 140 centimeters, a height of 285 centimeters and a rim circumference of 185 centimeters.

The festival, which started at 10 a.m. Sunday, was attended by residents of Batroun, members of the municipal council, officials and diplomats.

Among the officials was Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil -- who hails from Batroun -- Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour, in addition to more than 20 foreign diplomats who were in the city attending the festival.

The process was monitored by a representative of Guinness, along with the qaimaqam and the mayor.

Once the competition was over and the results had been verified, Batroun residents distributed free lemonades to shops, restaurants and public places in the city.