Record breaking attendance for Thursday’s Whiteout Street Party

It was a red hot – Whiteout Thursday night for Game 4 between the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators.

The Predators may have come away with a 2-1 win to even up the series at two games apiece, but there was a record number of fans watching the game from the Whiteout Street party.

According to the Winnipeg Police Service, there was an estimated 18,000 fans cheering on the home team from the party zone.

READ MORE: Nashvillle Predators down Winnipeg Jets to even series

That means there were more fans outside Bell MTS Place than inside.  Even sold-out, the arena holds just over 15,000 people.

And the number of fans who turned out Thursday was more than triple the amount of people who showed up for the very first Whiteout Street Party during Round 1 when the Jets took on the Minnesota Wild.

PHOTO GALLERY: view images from the Whiteout Street Party May 3

As you might expect, security was up too.

Winnipeg Police wouldn’t go into specifics about their numbers, but Global News observed there was a visible heavy police presence in the party zone.  Tactical crews were also keeping watch.

READ MORE: ‘You’re always being watched’: Winnipeg Whiteout street party security ramped up

And more people means more amenities.

There were 14 food trucks out Thursday — that’s eight more than were at the very first street party.

King’s Septic & Portable Toilet Service Inc. is in charge of fencing and washroom facilities.

They said during the first street party there were 35 portable toilets, 6 hand washing stations and about 1,066 metres of fencing to close off the party zone.

Thursday there were 150 portable toilets, 14 hand washing stations and 2,600 metres of fencing.

READ MORE: Have your say: are the Winnipeg Jets now Canada’s hockey team?

The Jets may have lost Game 4 but the Whiteout was a win for Winnipeg Harvest.

Fans attending the street party were asked to donate non-perishable food items.  A total 2,684 pounds of food was collected along with an additional $3,500 in cash donations.

The fundraiser was such a success, True North Sports + Entertainment said it will continue to collect food items for Winnipeg Harvest for the the rest of the Jets playoff run, as well as at Manitoba Moose games.