Storms, danger warnings and storms have characterized the headlines this week. On the night of Thursday, the extreme weather “Ingunn” is expected to hit Norway with full force. But it doesn’t stop there for hardy northerners. As early as Saturday, the Meteorological Institute warns of a new storm towards Nordland. – It won’t be exactly windy that day either. From Saturday morning, there will be gale-force winds from the southwest and snow showers in Bodø, says meteorologist on duty John Austerheim. – There will be rather unsettled conditions combined with snow showers that will not let up, the meteorologist states. At the same time, Helgeland gets a storm from the southwest. The storm may move to Vestfjorden, according to the meteorologist. – The low pressure center itself, which is out at sea, has even more wind. It will come closer to Bodø on Saturday afternoon and evening. “Ingunn” hits large parts of the coast on Thursday. Strong gusts of wind are expected in Nordland. Photo: Meteorological Institute Bad news for Bodø2024 It’s just bad news for the city’s biggest cultural event ever. That same afternoon, the opening ceremony of Bodø as European Capital of Culture takes place. A large floating stage has been set up in the harbor to be used for the opening show. The price tag for the ceremony is around NOK 10 million, wrote Bodø Nu in June last year. The total price for the entire opening weekend comes to NOK 20 million. With the recent forecast from the Meteorological Institute, the organizers now fear that the event will have to lose the weather gods. – We see that the stage and the equipment we have at the harbor can withstand this weather after the last few days of storms. But what is crucial for us is the safety of the participants and the public. The limit for when it is right for us to cancel is when we cannot be sure that safety has been taken care of, says director of Bodø2024 André Wallann Larsen. No backup plan – Do you have a plan B if the storm hits? – Plan A is to carry out the opening show in the harbour. Plan B is to take a number of security measures to still carry out the show outside. If it doesn’t work, we unfortunately have to cancel. This is not something that we can have indoors. The director goes on to say that the opening is something they have been looking forward to for a long time. It is not relevant to postpone the program if the ceremony is postponed. – It is of course a great pity if it breaks. We hope that it will go well. We are on track with the rigging. It is the actual weather on Saturday that determines this and not what yr.no reports today. On Wednesday afternoon, they nevertheless found an opening in the stormy weather to have a run-through with the dancers from Bodø VGS who will contribute to the show. Choreographer Ellinor Staurbakk was very satisfied with the run-through:
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New storm on Saturday – the opening ceremony of Bodø2024 is in danger – news Nordland
