City of Philadelphia pleased with Made in America’s second year

Philadelphia city officials are happy with the results of the two-day Made in America concert over the holiday weekend.

The final tally isn’t in yet for the costs or profits from the event — but the favorable publicity for the city has been deemed priceless.

Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison says the city received international publicity from the Made in America weekend that attracted dozens of bands and more than 100,000 concert-goers.

“This was good publicity for the right reasons and I hope to sit down with [concert promoters] and invite them to come back next year,” he said Tuesday.

The event was a bonanza for the city and its hospitality business, with hotels reporting a brisk business.

“Usually, it’s about 60 percent filled. Usually, Labor Day, [hotel rooms] are downwards of 40, 50, 60 percent filled,” Gillison said. “We were upwards of 90 percent-plus this year.”

Gillison says there were just two arrests on the designated concert grounds. Sports fields that had been refurbished by the city sustained little if any damage.

“We took pictures of what things looked like in advance,” he said. “We think there may be some reseeding that may have to be done, like any other time.”

Gillison adds that city officials want to work on ways to get enough water to the thousands of concert-goers — even though plenty of hydration stations had been set up. A final tally on the costs won’t be available for a few weeks.

The event, organized by Jay Z, included performances by Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Public Enemy, Deadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Miguel, among others.