3,000 Korean housewives, 250 tons of kimchi

(CNN) -- Kimchi-making season is upon South Korea, with grocery stores besieged with housewives snapping up buckets of giant cabbages, salt and red pepper powder -- or more often these days buying pre-made kimchi so they don't have to go to the trouble.
In one of Seoul's more unusual sights, 3,000 housewives marked the start of the period in which the ingredients are at their freshest, with the country's biggest kimchi-making event to date in front of Seoul's City Plaza on Wednesday.
Armed with aprons, rubber gloves and sanitary shower caps, the women stuffed and spiced a whopping 61,700 cabbages to provide 25,000 families with their essential side dish -- that's 250 tons of fermented spicy cabbage.
The mayor of Seoul presided over the festival, which was a charity event started by a Busan Yakult saleswoman in 2001 to provide kimchi to poorer households, and evolved into an annual national event in 2008, according to Korean daily Joongang Ilbo.
The numbers are so large, organizers announced they're approaching Guinness to establish a new World Record category.