RHINELANDER - The sworms of people are packing up as Hodag Fest wraps up, but the party was hopping all day Sunday.

Country Singer, Jo Dee Messina, said "This place is crazy. Oh man, there's so many people. There are so many people driving in and everyone is having a good time."

The chairs are collapsing, the tents are folding, and campers are hitting the road as the fourth and final day of Hodag wraps up.

Bert Jones, a Hodag attendee, said "Every year we say 'oh man it can't get any better than this' but by golly it does. Country Music is forever."

This year's concert brought out records numbers. From old to young, everyone was rocking out.

Performer, Hunter Hayes, said of his first Hodag experience, "There's just miles of people hanging out for a country concert. My fans are the greatest people in the world. They let me do what I do and they're always so awesome, they bring signs, they sing along. You guys are the best."

Hodag goer, Joe Swenson, said "Hunter Hayes was playing earlier and all the girls were going crazy."

Some of the biggest names in country music performed this weekend like Neal McCoy, Trace Atkins, Eric Church and Jo Dee Messina, to name a few.

"Before I go on stage me and the band do a couple of songs. We call them vocals. We just go over a couple of songs so our first note on stage isn't the first time we're on the same page during the day. We try to get everyone in the same mindset. We're ready to rock and everyone is warmed up. We do it every day before a show, about 20 minutes before," said Messina.

So what keeps these Hodag goers coming back year after year?

"The Hodag virgins of course," said Jones.

"This is my thirteenth year coming. I don't know if every year gets better but this is a record year for people coming out and the more the merrier I think," said Swenson.

Story By: Jenn Sullivan