CD Ledford, who attended Saturday's celebration with his two daughters, said the turnout showed what Raleigh is capable of. "I'd love to see more of it. It was really, really good and powerful to see the community come together like that," he said.
Ledford, who has lived in Raleigh for six years, said he welcomes the city's growth but hopes leaders keep infrastructure at the forefront. "I welcome it," he said. "Biggest thing I'd like to just see if the city in general. It's just infrastructure. Make sure to take care of that. I know we've been growing like crazy...just make sure we keep it up."
That sentiment mirrors discussions happening within Visit Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, where leaders say the weekend's success has renewed interest in bringing more and larger events to the area.
"That sort of opens the door for many more possibilities when you think about it in that regard," said Scott Dupree, executive director of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.
Dupree said the parade and the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run have caught the attention of major event organizers.
"And they're going, wait a second. If Raleigh can host this kind of event, this kind of Stanley Cup final, this kind of parade, these kind of activities so successfully, maybe they can host my event," he said.
Tourists visiting from Cleveland compared Raleigh's celebration to the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers championship parade, which drew hundreds of thousands. They said Raleigh has the potential to host events of similar scale with a few improvements.
"But in order to do it, if you want to have conventions here, you have the hotel space, and you got to get a good transportation," said John Zee, a visitor from Cleveland. "I understand your bus transportation isn't the best."
City and tourism officials expect to have a clearer picture by midweek of how much revenue the weekend generated for the local economy.
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