The valley's two biggest gay events — Dinah Shore and White Party weekends — have brought much-needed economic relief to downtown Palm Springs, merchants and business owners said Saturday.

In years past, these events have brought more than 25,000 gays and lesbians to town who collectively spend at least $9 million.

Even so, shop owners on Saturday doubted that these two weekends — one of the last hurrahs before season ends — would make up for revenue lost during the ongoing economic downturn.

“There's definitely more foot traffic,” said Michael Walton, owner of Greetings, 301 N. Palm Canyon Drive. “It's not anywhere near where it used to be three or four years ago.

“It's meeting our expectations, and believe me, our expectations weren't very high with how late the season started this year. You just can't expect much with the economy anymore,” he added.

Some business owners attributed the decrease in numbers to fear connected to drug- and gang-related violence south of the border, as well as the pro-spring break message pushed by the city.

Many of the stores stayed open late Saturday. But many more were closed.

Joy Meredith, president of Main Street Palm Springs, said business owners should be more accommodating to tourists.

“We know that there are thousands of people here right now, so don't be closed,” said Meredith, who owns Crystal Fantasy, 264 N. Palm Canyon Drive, with her daughter, Patricia.

“For retailers to close and miss out on this, they're not serving themselves.”

Families with strollers walked the sidewalks downtown. Very few men wearing white — which is typically associated with the White Party — could be seen Saturday night.

Some store owners reported Dinah Shore Weekend — the largest lesbian party on the circuit — being a better weekend.

“The girls, that was a different story,” said John Freedberg, owner of Desert Board Company, 220 N. Palm Canyon Drive. “They were fun. They loved the shop.

“Last week was my best week,” he said.

“This year (White Party) is different, unless they're saving it up for tomorrow.”