Manitoba Filipino Street Festival continues despite storm

Not even a thunderstorm is stopping the Manitoba Filipino Street Festival, which continues in Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon and evening.

It was already raining a little as thefestival parade rolleddown McPhillips Street at 9 a.m. Saturday, but a thunderstorm that swept through the city during the noon hour raised safety concerns.

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Festival chairperson Aida Champagne said some tent stands blew over at the event site, outside Garden City Shopping Centre.

As well, she said there were concerns that the heavy rainfall would short-circuit the sound system.

Some booths were packed up early as a result of the storm, including a tent hosted by CBC Manitoba.

However, Champagnesaid dozens of volunteers helped tokeep the festival going, in part by using plastic covers to keep the rain out.

"It was really pouring rain, so everybody went in there but some people stayed," shetold CBC News around 4:30 p.m.

"There's still more people in here right now. As soon as the rain stopped, here we go again, continuing with the program!"

Champagne estimates about 300 to 400 people had attended the festival as of Saturday afternoon. Weather permitting,she hopes the program of eventswill continue until 10 p.m.