 Up to 20,000 people a day visited the event.Between 300,000 and 500,000 people visited the Ellipse to see the exhibits and performances (with bumper-to-bumper traffic on nearby streets as people drove by to see the trees), and the pageant proved so popular that it was extended for two days.A formal organization, Pageant of Peace, Inc., was formed in 1955 to take over the event from the loose confederation of business, religious, and civic groups which had organized the 1954 pageant.