It was the biggest, if not the best Magna Hoedown.
The biggest tent to date held 5,200 cowboys and cowgirls, raising the biggest amount for local non-profit organizations, a whopping $538,105.
"Tonight is an absolute complete sellout. We've been sold out for two weeks — we've never been sold out that far in advance," said Steve Hinder, manager of Magna for Community and chair of the Hoedown organizing committee.
The sellout is attributed in no small part to Saturday's headliner, the iconic Blue Rodeo, returning to the Hoedown stage after a gig in 2010.
The line-up also included decorated Canadian Country Music Association award-winner Gord Bamford, and Beverley Mahood, the longtime Hoedown performer, host and Showdown judge and mentor.
"It's the largest crowd because also the tent is the largest that it has been over the last few years — it's the same square footage as three football fields," Hinder said. "The best part is it will be the largest donation to 20 great charities."
That tally is added to more than $12 million raised over 30 years, making Magna's Wild Wild West Hoedown Canada's largest fundraiser.
That biggest dance floor yet became a "stand floor" when Blue Rodeo took to the stage, as it became packed with fans standing as close to the stage as possible, singing along and waving hands and smartphones aloft.
And finally, it may have been the hottest Hoedown night ever, as temperatures reached steamy levels under the tent, with the humidex pushing into the 30s C throughout the night.
