The ping of a steel band and the ring of cash registers were heard along Front Street on Wednesday night.

Merchants declared the night shopping experiment a success. And the Chamber of Commerce was hatching bigger plans for next Wednesday.

Usually deserted on a weekday night, Front Street was alive with the Richardson Gombey Troupe, the Tropical Breeze Steel Band and vendors who blew glass, painted faces, and sold crafts.

At least 33 stores stayed open as late as 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. Merchants said hundreds of residents and visitors poured in.

"It's got great potential,'' Archie Brown & Son president Mr. Warren Brown, Jr. said. "It's got to build now ... it's going to take a year.'' Time was needed for hoteliers and taxi drivers to spread the word about Wednesday nights to visitors. And the chamber's Harbour Nights experiment was also important for residents.

"A lot of local people don't have time to go shopping during the day or on weekends,'' Mr. Brown said.

Harbour Nights could also be important as a social event, and a way of supporting local artisans, artists, and entertainers.

E.R. Aubrey Jewellers manager Mrs. Linda Gittings said her night was so successful she will increase staffing next Wednesday to three or four from two. "We closed at nine o'clock with people banging on the door,'' she said.

"A lot of people have been waiting for some sort of excitement.'' At night, "there isn't much to do in Bermuda.'' Some stores, like Archie Brown, Davison's of Bermuda and the Bananas Group, had been opening late some nights already. "Obviously, the more shops that are open, the more it helps,'' Davison's manager Mrs. Marian Burton said. "It definitely brought people downtown.'' HA&E Smith Ltd. was the only Front Street department store which did not participate.

Things were quieter on Reid Street, away from the special activities. "A handful of people'' visited the Bermuda Railway Company, salesperson Miss Dennikia Exell said. "We didn't expect as many people as Front Street.

"We'll be open again next Wednesday.'' The Chamber of Commerce, which organised the promotion, was surveying businesses and working on plans for next week. "We were pleasantly surprised with the number of people,'' executive vice-president Miss Carolyn Mello said.

"We had visitors and locals dancing in the street -- they were literally dancing in the street.'' Each week would have a theme and jazz would be featured next Wednesday.

Wandering saxophonists and other musicians would be added, and it was hoped more restaurants would serve customers at sidewalk tables.

"We'll build the programme every week,'' Miss Mello said. "It's a trial and error thing.''