Approximately 24,000 attended the Mardi Gras events, $3 million generated for Albany according to the Visitors Bureau.
ALBANY, GA -- Hotels were full and streets were bustling on what businesses and volunteers call a successful Mardi Gras weekend.
The Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau says they had 1,762 registered marathon runners: An increase from last year.
Approximately 24,000 attended the Mardi Gras events according to the Visitors Bureau. They say it’s down 46 percent from last year, which they attribute to rainy weather.
They say the total economic impact for Albany from the Mardi Gras weekend is $3 million.
New downtown businesses, Verge and the General Store, also say they saw steady business. The Manager of the Downtown General Store says they saw almost 400 people in their store just on Saturday.
“All of our new stores and existing stores that are open actually did wonderful. We had great foot traffic, a lot of new visitors from out of town, and a lot of people who lived here for a long time and used to shop in these buildings and came back to see what it was like to be back in those businesses,” says Downtown Manager Aaron Blair.
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