HILLSBOROUGH, N.B.-- Thousands of descendants of the Steeves namesake are making their way to the greater Moncton area this weekend for a celebration 250 years in the making.

The reunion marks 250 years from when the family first arrived in New Brunswick.

“The more the merrier, as we say in the Steeves family,” said Susan Steeves, who sits on the family organizing committee. “For us, this is an opportunity for all those Steeves' to come from around the world and, quite literally, be counted.”

It took two years of planning to set the stage for this Steeves reunion. Many of the events are being held in Hillsborough, where a number of the Steeves first settled.

On Saturday, the reunion will feature a record-setting attempt at the Moncton Coliseum.

“We are attempting to set a record for the largest gathering of people with the same last name, Steeves, in the same place, at the same time,” said Susan.

“There’s gonna be two types of people in southeastern New Brunswick. There are the Steeves, and there are those who want to be one,” said Marshall Button, who falls into the latter category. Button is a performer who has created a dramatic musical piece for the event. “It involves a 25-piece orchestra, and the building of a virtual quilt,” he said.

People from near and far began arriving at the reunion on Friday, including people who have traced their own history back to the Steeves namesake.

“For the last few years, we've being doing our genealogy,” said Theressa MacIntosh, who lives in Winnipeg. “That’s how we found out about the Steeves reunion.”

“My mother's mother was a Steeves,” said Janet Lindstrom, who also came from afar. Lindstrom lives in Ontario, but grew up in Albert County, and was at the last major Steeves family reunion in Hillsborough back in 1966.“I just remember a lot of people around, and I remember the parade. There was a big parade.”

Although the spotlight will be on the Steeves this weekend, the family says that everybody is welcome, regardless of their last name.

“A festival is a festival, and we want anybody who wants to come, to come,” said Susan.

The family reunion continues with events around greater Moncton until Friday, July 29.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.