Nambassa crowds dry out over week-end

Press, 26 January 1981, Page 6

Nambassa crowds dry out over week-end

PA Hamilton Between 10,000 and 12.000 people were at the Nambassa festival near Waihi during the week-end, The ’ crowds enjoyed hot sunhine- on Saturday and yesterday after two days of heavy showers and mud which', began .the. five-day festival.People and bridges were swept: away on Friday when: a flash flood hit the Wait-j ewheta River late in the! afternoon. i Tragedy was narrowly: averted after, festival-goers; ignored warnings and at-[ tempted to wade the swollen river. //; i - . •' Onlookers/ /< including / horrified toj watch",about‘''2o people, one with a- year-old infant,' per-j ched oh 'his 'shoulders, link! arms and brave the torrent. > Moments later, the head of the chain : was being swept down the river and' while most kept their foot-ii ing in chest-deep water, sev-1 eral. including the man andit infant,abroke away. ( The man, still clutching j the child, was swept, underwater and downstream for c about !. 15m • before being It driven on to the river bank.lf A girl, aged- seven, report-k ed missing after the floodk

i.was later found, grazed and; 0 with mild shock, on the river -ibank. L The. flash . flood which; ■came in what was described! t as a “a mini tidal wave”! ii'Swelled the river to double! flits previous size about. 5.30* li'p.m. but left intact one tern-; /■porary bridge, near the en- 1 ‘trance.'tb the festival site. ; j The flood was caused by. .a I i: heavy build-up of water in ’ -|,the upper Waitewheta River >icatchment afea after heavy! (showers which continued to!, t turn roads surrounding the; i(site into deep mud. ,|1 ■ ■ -Nambassa took on a fes-h ? tive atmosphere as theu •crowd forgot the difficult u ! conditions, dried out, and; (enjoyed the, festival’s twou ;big concerts. jf ! But Saturday night's con- < 'cert had its prbbiems. The j .jazz trumpeter, Dizzy Gil-ij lespie, appeared on stage; four hours late after prob-i s lerns were resolved with thelf ! organisers,. Ij. I The other'main act of the; r i evening, the American jd Charlie Daniels Band ap-l. pearedtas scheduled. 111 Uniformed and plain;P clothes police made “a few a arrests” on drugs charges. I c Senior-Sergeant B. Husband declined to give the number! 5 of people apprehended. ik

d: Valuables were taken from r several tents and in some 'cases whole tents were stohjlen during Saturdav’s cond'cert. But he said only two ’‘[complaints'about theft had e | been received. D| St John ambulance .staff -'have been kept busy with -minor ailments, infection, [and sunburn. ; 1I Children’s entertainments, i open-air forums on a variety rof topics, and workshops /Jhave been main attractions t'of the festival. J( The organisers, and police i have praised the good ria titre ■'of the crowd at the festival, /which will, end late this ‘evening. j I; The disappearance of a[' '[youth, aged 18, in the Waipal j River cast a cloud over an •[otherwise incident - free ' / Sweetwaters festival near : (Ngaruawahia. [ 'I The police were still 1 (searching -late last' evening . ;for Ross ‘Kameta. of Auckland. The youth has been ' (missing.since early, on Satur-,, [day afternoon.. He was hav- [. iing difficulties'' in an un- C (patrolled area ■of the river, [and two friends tried unsucIcessfully to help him,/said I [Senior-Sergeant A. R. Pol-I-ikinghorne. ‘ ,