The northern Croatian city of Varaždin has decided to use the money that was to have been spent on the promotion of the local Špancirfest street festival in Ljubljana to buy dehumidifiers and donate them to Slovenian towns hit by recent disastrous floods, and the donation was handed over in Celje on Monday.

Even though the Varaždin Tourism Board had arranged a date for the promotion of Špancirfest in the Slovenian capital, the event was cancelled in a show of solidarity and respect for the people killed in the floods, the city administration said.

Varaždin Mayor Neven Bosilj adopted a conclusion to use funds from the city’s reserves to buy three professional dehumidifiers, of which two were donated to the fire brigade in the town of Celje, and one to the fire brigade in Nazarje, one of the worst flood-affected communities in Slovenia.

The equipment was handed over by Varaždin Deputy Mayor Miroslav Marković and representatives of the Varaždin Fire Brigade, and Celje Mayor Matija Kovač thanked them for it.

The Slovenian government decided to declare Monday a day of solidarity and a non-working day so that citizens can help in removing the consequences of the floods and help their neighbours, friends and all the other people affected by the floods.