MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a busy weekend in the city center with both the American Gymnastics Trials as well as Twin Cities Pride. In fact, it’s expected to bring more than 500,000 people to downtown Minneapolis.
Based on ticket sales and hotel sales, the Minneapolis City Council estimates gymnastics tests bring 100,000 people to the city center. In addition, Pride is expected to bring 500,000 people to downtown. It means packed restaurants and nearly 100% hotel occupancy in the city of Minneapolis.
“It’s great to showcase our city and region to the rest of the country,” said Adan Duininck, President and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. “Everything the city has been through over the past four years, it’s great to see this summer continuing the upward trend of more events, more visitors, full hotels and restaurants.”
He said the two events are just the beginning, with events like Red White and Boom returning, as well as Taste of Minnesota and the Aquatennial. Duininck said he sees the momentum downtown continuing throughout the summer.
“If you think about the rest of the summer, almost every week, or every two weeks, something really big happens,” he said. “There have been a number of things from June to September that will keep downtown busy and vibrant.”
Duininck says the center will continue to get a boost with more people working in the office. Nearly a dozen of downtown’s top companies are returning to the office three to four days a week.
