ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — Observers here are estimating that a crowd of at least 1.2 million people were drawn to the recently concluded Dinagyang Festival in this city.

Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the weeklong revelry in honor of the Sto. Niño attracted an estimated 1.2 million spectators including US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. and South African Ambassador Agnes Nyamande-Pitso.

The crowd who watched the ticketed performances in four judging areas which included the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand and Iloilo Sports Complex was estimated at more than 20,000.

Tens of thousands also flocked the streets of Iloilo city proper and La Paz districts to watch groups garbed akin to colorful ati tribes perform. Hundreds of thousands also attended the various nightly concerts and parties for four days, with major city streets closed to traffic to make way for the huge throngs of people to take part in the revelry.

Meanwhile, the Dinagyang as a tourism event also perked up the local economy.

“The Dinagyang apparently created much employment opportunities and entrepreneurial activities,” noted Rex Drilon II, president of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation Inc. (ILED).

“The tips to drivers, bell boys, porters, waiters, hotel workers, tour guides and the like were examples of these direct benefits because they went direct to the pockets of such workers and their families,” Drilon added.