Sep 11, 2011

Blumenau Oktoberfest To Go On As Scheduled

Blumenau Oktoberfest To Go On As Scheduled
by Michael Hone

Despite Some Flooding in German Village Park, the Party Will Go On As Scheduled

BLUMENAU, Brazil – The pavilions where this famous Oktoberfest is scheduled to begin early next month were affected by flooding in the Vale do Itajai. Also affected were almost one million people the the State of Santa Catarina.

Volunteers help clean up German Village to get ready for Oktoberfest after massive flooding in Bluemnau

Blumenau Floods (photo: terra.com.br)

On Saturday, with better weather and some sunshine, about 30 volunteers gathered to clean German Village Park after being organized on Facebook. The flooding in the park reached a little over four feet on the festival premises along with shops and restaurants in the area.

The president of German Village, Norberto Mette, said the event, scheduled to commence on October 6th, will go on as planned. According to him, preparations for the festival had been accelerated prior to the flooding. Mette estimates that the cleanup will last three days and, thereafter, preparations will be back on schedule.

”We now have to work harder to compensate for this slight delay of four or five days, and we'll have some expenses that were unforeseen, such as painting. We have to paint the flags again, we have to rebuild some venues that were ready, some food booths—they got a lot of water and were damaged. But nothing that we cannot solve,” he said.

As a result of the 2011 Santa Catarina Floods, more than 150,000 people are displaced (went to the homes of friends or relatives) and 13 thousand are homeless in 91 cities around the state. More than 80 cities reported a disaster emergency and 37 enacted a calamity situation as of Saturday night.

Brazilian online news source: terra.com.br

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