Ward 3 city councillor Renaldo Agostino is calling it a 'lights out' experience for downtown Windsor.
Speaking on AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show, Agostino says more than 6,000 people visited the downtown core on Saturday for Windsor's 'NFL Draft Party' and the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association's 'Block Party'.
"The number that we have so far is that we had just over 6000 people visit our downtown on Saturday and that is just massive," says Agostino.
He says it was nice to see the community come out and enjoy the events.
Agostino says it was a special event for him, as it showed "we can do this" in the downtown core and believes the community had an incredible time.
"We know we gave away 1000 hard tickets for downtown," says Agostino. "We know there was two or three different turnovers. We know every patio was packed. We know we have away 500 t-shirts at city hall. We know we gave away 1500 hot dogs at city hall. We know our registration numbers were huge."
He feels people felt safe attending the events in the downtown core.
"This is just one part of what we want to do and it was great to see a lot of security, a lot of police out there too," he says. "It made everybody feel safe. You got all those people down there, everyone feels comfortable, everyone thinks things are going to go great and they did."
Agostino says he has heard from a number of downtown business owners including a call from the owner of Lefty's on Sunday.
"Buddy that was the busiest night we've had in 13-years, busiest night we've had in 13-years," says Agostino. "Vito called me yesterday and said listen, I need this every weekend, can you do this every weekend and I'm like I can't."
The NFL Draft party took place on the front yard of city hall.
It featured appearances from former and current NFL players, NFL-themed interactive games, a draft viewing area, as well as a free football skills and coaching clinic for local youth.
After the draft party, an all-ages block party took place on Ouellette Avenue between Park Street and University Avenue featuring live entertainment.
Windsor’s NFL Draft celebrations are off to a great start!
— AM800 CKLW (@AM800CKLW) April 27, 2024
Head over to city hall and enjoy a bunch games and activities! @CityWindsorON pic.twitter.com/2baNo8TSNr
The NFL Draft Party continued at @CityWindsorON! It was great to see so many people come out today ?? pic.twitter.com/lVTh7EK9sL
— AM800 CKLW (@AM800CKLW) April 27, 2024