Blumenau

Hermann Blumenau led a group of German settlers here in 1850 and the colony grew into a textile and industrial city that kept the language in the surrounding valleys for generations. Its Oktoberfest began in 1984 as a response to a catastrophic flood - a way of getting the city back on its feet - and became the largest German festival in the Americas, running through October in a purpose-built pavilion complex with parades, brass bands, litre steins and attendance in the hundreds of thousands. The half-timbered building in the centre is mostly recent and deliberate, though genuine nineteenth-century houses survive, several as museums. Behind the festival is a real craft brewing industry, with a number of breweries around the Itajai valley open for visits.

What you actually see

• The largest Oktoberfest in the Americas - a month of it, in purpose-built halls.
• A 1850 German colony - the settlement that became a textile city.
• Half-timbered streets - mostly modern, with genuine houses among them.
• Craft breweries - a working industry in the Itajai valley.

When to go

October for Oktoberfest; any time for the breweries. Two days.

Honest expectations

Most of the historic-looking centre was built recently to a theme. During Oktoberfest the city is full and prices rise sharply. The festival is a large drinking event and behaves like one. Outside October the city is ordinary and industrial.

Nearby

Pomerode is north; Florianopolis is south on the coast.