Five hundred nineteen Christmas carolers braved the New York cold and fa-la-la-la-la'd themselves into the Guinness World Records Book on Saturday with the largest carol service, breaking the previous record of 517.

Singers, 519 in all, belt out Christmas carols to break the year-old Guinness World Record in New York on December 13, 2003. The sing-along took place on the steps of Manhattan's General Post Office across the street from Madison Square Garden. [Reuters]

"My fingers froze but, hey, we broke the record," said city resident Norman Ellis who joined the sing-along on the steps of Manhattan's General Post Office across the street from Madison Square Garden.

Guinness officials had 12 marshals on the scene to make sure all carolers were actually singing and not just moving their lips to traditional Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls.

Guinness required that all participants knew the words to the carols and that the singing went on for at least 15 uninterrupted minutes. Saturday's effort lasted 16 minutes and 17 seconds.

"It was great," said Alex Camacho of Long Island, who sang along with his wife and children. "It just gets you into the Christmas spirit."

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