The Opening of SkyDome: A Celebration (1989)

Broadcast nationwide on the CBC, The Opening of SkyDome: A Celebration - SkyDome (now called the Rogers Centre), the world's first stadium with a fully retractable roof - is a multi-purpose stadium in Downtown Toronto, Canada, next to the CN Tower on the shore of Lake Ontario. Andrea Martin and Alan Thicke co-hosted the 90-minute event on June 3, 1989, complete with songs written specifically for the celebration. Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, rock band Glass Tiger, musical impersonator Andre-Phillippe Gagnon, Liberty Silver, Tommy Ambrose, the Toronto Symphony, David Clayton Thomas and CATS star Theresa Pitt, various construction workers such as iron workers, carpenters and electricians in an Olympic style parade and thousands of "People of Toronto" showcasing multi-cultural heritage performed. It also featured a Guinness Book of World Records longest dancer kick line. The opening show rented every available spotlight on the northeastern seaboard and climaxed with a burst of fireworks and the release of 30,000 balloons, all helped by 5,000 volunteers.