LJUBLJANA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian accordionist Zoran Zorko has set a new Guinness world record for his recent marathon accordion performances that lasted 35 hours and 32 minutes.
Zorko's record was set during his performances in, among others, Ljubljana's Congress Square, the lakeside resort of Bled, and an accordion festival in a border town of Brezice between Thursday and Sunday.
Finland's Anssi Laitinen held the previous record by continuously playing for 31 hours and 25 minutes in 2010.
Under Guinness world records rules, Zorko had to play the accordion continuously with a maximum of 30-second breaks between songs. He could not improvise and all his songs needed to be by recognized authors. A song could only be played once within a four-hour period.
Every full hour of playing earned Zorko a five-minute break. "During these five minutes, I go to eat, go to the toilet and do everything else necessary for my daily life," Zorko told Xinhua in Brezice on Sunday.
The self-taught accordionist cannot read notes, making his record all the more remarkable.