MADISON — Despite a rainy start, hundreds turned out Oct. 20 for Madison’s first Chick-fil-A-sponsored “Fun Fest and World Record Attempt” at Dublin Park, which fell short of breaking the current record for the most people dressed as cows in one location.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the current record holder is a town in Western Australia called Cowaramup. Participants broke the record with 1,352 people young and old dressed as cows at the Cow Muster during the Deja Moo Country Fair on July 12, 2014.

Madison needed 1,353 people to participate in the Oct. 20 event to break Cowaramup’s record.

“We unfortunately fell just a little shy of that,” said Katie Bentley, marketing director for Chick-fil-A. “We came out right at 700 people. The weather kind of threw us for a loop a little bit, but that’s O.K. We still had a ton of fun.”

Bentley said there were about 50 vendors present, as well as games, inflatables for children and  musical entertainment provided by Huntsville’s Daniel Teel and his band. Chick-fil-A also had enough paper cow hats readily available for anyone who was without their own cow costume.

One couple came ready for the fun dressed in their own cow attire. Glenda and Jim Norris, who have been married for 51 years, said they “love Chick-fil-A” and have always had a “great relationship” with the fast food chain.

“We just love Chick-fil-A,” said Glenda. “We were number one and number two when they opened the store in Decatur, and we just had a great time because they played games, and it’s just fun, so we just decided we’d come here.”

Jim said it’s even more special to them because their granddaughter worked for Chick-fil-A.

The event was originally going to be held outside at Dublin Park, but the festivities were moved indoors because of the rain. Luckily, the weather cleared up enough in time for the much-anticipated helicopter drop at 11:30 a.m.

The crowd moved outside to the tennis courts where a helicopter dropped about 200 small, plush cows that parachuted down to eager children and adults. The cows offered a chance at a year’s worth of free Chick-fil-A.

Many participants were not too confident about breaking the world record that day but still wanted to join the fun and see if they could obtain the big prize. June Barr and Kayla McGee said they heard about the event on Facebook and thought it was fun. Of course, the big prize was another huge draw.

“I was hoping for a year of free chicken,” Barr said, laughing.

Nearby Madison resident Megan Miller decided to bring her children out for the fun.

“It’s just a fun day for the kids, there’s stuff for (my daughter) to do—just to get out of the house,” said Megan Miller.

Hordes of attendees lost their cow hats scrambling for the little parachuting cows, and a few even jumped in some bushes for an unexpected final prize: one large stuffed cow.

Although Madison only corralled about half of the needed participants to break the record, Bentley said it’s not over yet. The second attempt will take place Oct. 5, 2019 at the 39th annual Madison Street Festival.