Scott Whittall practically vibrated with excitement as he strolled down Flora Street during the AT&T Performing Arts Center's "Sunday Spotlight" event, which topped a weeklong celebration of opening festivities for the center.

"They've created this amazing walk through the center of the arts," said Whittall, 45, of Dallas. Gesturing around at the crowds, he compared the vibrancy to that of New York City. "This is such a huge day for Dallas," he said. "We're so metropolitan now – with the opening of this center, Dallas has landed."

Thousands of visitors attended the daylong festival, which included tours of the new Wyly Theatre and Winspear Opera House, free admission at Arts District museums, hands-on art activities, and more than 50 free performances of dance, music, acrobatics and more.

Maria May, public relations director for the AT&T Performing Arts Center, estimated that the crowd numbered at least 25,000, based on the number of programs and other materials that volunteers handed out. But since not everyone got a program, that number is probably low, she said.

Lines snaked around the Wyly and Winspear as people patiently waited for tours or shows. Around 3 p.m., the lines from the Wyly extended all the way from the below-street-level doors up to the street, then curled around the building and into the surrounding green space. Kellie Samuels, who lives in Deep Ellum and took the Green Line to the festivities, didn't mind at all.

"I'm happy just standing out here on this glorious day with all this going on around us," the 26-year-old said. "Can you believe this turnout? For the arts? In Dallas? Awesome. Just awesome."

Just a few dozen feet away, an enthusiastic crowd oohed and ahhed at the AntiGravity acrobatics performance. Four men flung themselves, with seeming nonchalance, back and forth from a trampoline to a high platform, their bodies silhouetted against the bright blue sky and the stark aluminum tubing of the Wyly.

When the clock struck 3 p.m., the bells from nearby Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe mingled with the hip-hop stage music, creating a joyful dissonance.

Serene Prat brought her 7-year-old son, Hunter, from Hickory Creek (north of Lewisville Lake) for the day. "He's more into sports, but I want to expose him to this. I need him to be my Dallas Symphony-going partner," Prat said. She had high praise for the facilities and the event. "There's so much going on, so many sights and sounds, and performances from all our cultures," she said. "There was a cry for this. It was so needed."

Most people gave both the Wyly and the Winspear big thumbs up.

Janet Slaughter, 55, of Richardson came over on a break from her Sunday job as children's choir director at First United Methodist Church. Along with a nearly full house, she saw the Mistura String Quartet at the Winspear. She pronounced the acoustics "very alive, delightful, just perfect."

She ran into her next-door neighbor, Gary Lyons, 62. "This is such an important day for the future of Dallas," Lyons said. "I could never have imagined seeing this many people downtown on the weekend, especially when it's also the last day of the fair."

Michael Bennett, 69, of North Dallas, deemed the Winspear "not as impressive as the Meyerson. ... The stairways remind me somehow of a sports arena. But that should make Dallas people comfortable," he said with a wry grin. "I'll hold final judgment until I hear some opera from the stage." He was then frustrated to find that the Dallas Opera wasn't selling tickets for its first show, Otello, which opens Oct. 23, during the event.

Tray Mingle, 61, of Fort Worth, was thrilled with the center as a whole. "If they can build a $1 billion football stadium, I don't see why they can't spend $250 million on something like this. Dallas needs this."

Told the actual cost was more like $354 million, Mingle shrugged, then chuckled. "Well, it's gorgeous. This is no time to count pennies."