Constitution Square turned into a tightly organized construction site overnight. For hours, dozens of workers assembled modules made of europallets and particleboard panels, until the structure stretched across the entire square and continued onto Union Boulevard, toward Union Square. The result: 5.5 kilometers of table, built to seat 20,000 people who will sit down together today, Saturday, starting at 4 p.m.

The event is called "The Table That Unites," and this isn't its first edition. Last year, on September 13, 2025, the project entered the Guinness World Records in Alba Iulia, inside the trenches of Alba Carolina Citadel, with a table measuring 2,782.96 meters and 10,000 participants, the record for the longest table built from recyclable materials. In Bucharest, organizers want to exactly double last year's numbers: twice as many people, twice as much table.

Who's behind it

The idea belongs to Alexa Vîlcan, founder of the Bloom The World association, which has organized communal table events across Romania since 2019. The 2025 edition involved more than 1,000 volunteers and roughly five tons of food. This year's structure, built at double the scale, demanded logistics to match, with prefabricated recyclable modules, assembly crews working against the clock, and safety flows planned for a crowded square in the heart of the city.

A Guinness World Records delegation is expected at the event to verify the table's dimensions, structure, and materials on site, along with the actual number of participants seated at the same time. That headcount is a mandatory condition for the record to be certified.

More than a record

The charitable side of the project carries as much weight as the record attempt itself. Funds raised through the event go toward building Romania's first Pediatric Psychiatric Hospital, part of the "Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia" Clinical Psychiatric Hospital. According to organizers, the new facility would provide annual treatment for more than 5,700 children with severe mental health conditions. The initiative is part of the "Public Hospitals From Private Money" program, and participation at the table is free. Anyone who wants to contribute further can donate directly to the Metropolis Foundation.

More than 14,000 spots had already been reserved days before the event, and organizers said participants were coming from every county in the country, with large groups also forming in Alba Iulia, Cluj-Napoca, and Constanța.

What changes on the roads today

The stretch of Union Boulevard between Constitution Square and Union Square has been closed to traffic since last night at 10 p.m., and will remain closed until tomorrow, September 13, at 2 p.m. The restriction extends around the perimeter of Constitution Square as well. Public transit lines running through the area, bus route 385 and night line N101, are on detour routes.

Bucharest's traffic police recommend two alternative routes for anyone needing to cross the area:

• Panduri Road, Tudor Vladimirescu Boulevard, Rahovei Road, 11 Iunie Street, Union Square

• Union Square, Splaiul Independenței, Eroilor Boulevard, Doctor Bagdasar Street, Panduri Road

The event closes with a concert prepared specifically for those attending. If everything goes according to plan, Bucharest will be the city where 20,000 people sat, for a few hours, at the longest table in the world.

Photo: Masa care Unește/Facebook