Eleven local sandwich shops gathered in Portland’s Monument Square late morning Thursday to build what may be the unofficial World’s Largest Maine Italian Sandwich – 160 feet from end to end. Collectively, it took the sandwich makers about 25 minutes to build it, said Gillian Britt, one of the owner/producers of Portland’s Harvest on the Harbor festival, adding “it was devoured in far less time than it took to make it.”

The participants were, in part, trying for a record, but Guinness World Records doesn’t (yet) have a category for the sandwich. So Guinness suggested Portland have a trial run. Next year, the organizers hope do it again with a Guinness representative on hand to make it count. But the real reason behind the sandwich-making spectacle was to bring attention to “Different Roads,” the opening event of this year’s Harvest on the Harbor. The event, 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 18, highlights how immigration has influenced Maine food.