No birthday atmosphere. The rain complicated the celebration in the most emblematic city on the coast

MAR DEL PLATA.- Birthday well spent in water in Mar del Plata. A milestone like the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city is not an everyday occurrence, but there it appeared, forceful and sustained like few other times, the bad weather. It has been raining since sunset on Friday and everything indicates that part of Sunday will also be more conducive to staying indoors or, in the best of cases, going out with a raincoat, hood or umbrella.

Even though they tried to wait until the last minute given the hiring that was done and the schedule of activities that are part of the celebrations and was almost complete throughout the weekend, In the middle of the afternoon it was decided to reschedule the first round of recitals on the stage that had been set up on Paseo Las Toscas, between the Torreón del Monje and the rambla.

A dance show was announced there, with music by Ástor Piazzolla, the duo Pimpinela and the band Los Palmeras for the first of three consecutive days of free and open-air shows.

The showers had almost no interruptions and there was no choice but to move that initial agenda to Tuesday night, also a holiday. For now, This Sunday’s recitals by Los Totora and La Joaqui remain standing and unchangedalways from 8pm, and the Bresh party on Monday night.

Luckily there were no winds, which are always the strongest blow that comes with these meteorological phenomena. But still, only with water, in different parts of the city Trees and cables fell and streets were flooded., where several cars were stranded. In some cases it was necessary to assist its occupants so that they could get out, sunk with half of the bodywork in a literal lagoon.

Without the possibility of enjoying either the beach or the recitals to celebrate the 150 years of Mar del Plata, tourists braved the rains along the promenadeMauro V. Rizzi – THE NATION

The celebrations had begun on Friday night, to wait for midnight and sing “happy birthday” with the first minute of February 10, which commemorates the founding of the city, which dates back to 1874. The relentless downpour forced the event to be moved outdoors to the covered space of the Estación Sur Cultural Center, a former bus station.. There was a 150 kilo cake that was shared with almost 2,000 people who, underwater, lined up to receive and taste a slice.

This sesquicentennial celebration coincided with the long Carnival weekend, which is usually one of the busiest and most successful of the year. That’s how it was in recent seasons. It will be necessary to see in a few days, when the statistics compiled by the municipality are closed, how much it yielded due to this bad weather that was in sight of the weather forecast and significantly reduced the number of arrivals.

Worrying prognosis

The hotel industry reported occupancy just above 75% for this date, which this year appears very early in the almanac, almost coinciding with the close of the first fortnight and leaving the rest of the month with a worrying forecast due to the low number of reservations. both in hospitality and property rentals.

Those who were already there because they had chosen this date for vacation and those who decided to go on a long weekend getaway For now, they were left with almost no chance of going to the beach.. Those who arrived on Friday had a good time with little sun, but good temperatures to take advantage of the sea. For now, those furthest behind are only walking along flooded sidewalks or taking refuge in commercial premises.

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The gastronomics experienced moments of anxiety during their peak hours, particularly lunch and the first afternoon. But others also received theirs. In particular, the clothing sector, which took advantage of this last strong presence of tourists and pockets still alive in these first days of the month to launch its summer season sales and sales. Shop windows were seen with discounts of 30% to 50% and sales of the “2×1” format on the garments most related to the beach..

Within the framework of these celebrations, which were put together almost on the fly despite the relevance of the number of this anniversary, One of the highly anticipated activities is the open day at the Mar del Plata Naval Base. The entry of the Frigate Libertad is expected early this Sunday and, if weather permits, it can be visited until Tuesday.

THE NATION

Themes

Mar del PlataSummer 2024Anniversary

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