Nutter lauds Made in America's record crowds, can't say how much $ was made

THE MADE IN America music festival was a smash success in terms of attendance, but the economic benefit to the city is still not known, Mayor Nutter said yesterday.

More than 130,000 paying concertgoers attended the festival last weekend on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway - 65,637 on Saturday and 64,820 on Sunday - setting the attendance record for the four-year history of the festival, Nutter said at an afternoon news conference.

"Philadelphia is truly on the global stage and we just keep growing - which we will, of course, keep doing later on this month," he said, noting Pope Francis' visit and the fact that the concert was streamed live in 45 countries.

Nutter estimated that a $10 million economic impact could be realized by the city from the festival, but said it was too early to know for certain.

"We'd know better in a couple months when we see receipt data come in for, I guess, September," he said. "We're not going to know three days after the thing how much actually came in. No one's reported anything."

When asked about the economic impact from the three previous years' festivals, Nutter didn't have those numbers either.

"I can check on that," he said.

In any event, the festival, the creation of rap mogul Jay Z, will return to the Parkway next year, Nutter pledged.