Joinville

The largest city in Santa Catarina with 381,000 inhabitants and one of the most important industrial parks in the state, Joinville is named after a prince. The lands in the region once belonged to François Ferdinand Phillipe, Prince of Joinville and son of Louis Phillipe, King of France by his marriage to the sister of King Pedro II, Francisca Carolina. He later left the area which later became a settlement for German, Norwegian and Swiss immigrants.

Joinville is the centre of the refrigeration companies, Cônsul and Tubos e Conexões Tigre, and is by no means a typical industrial city. Although it has 680 large factories, it is surrounded by green conservation areas and flowers - since 1939, the municipality has held a flower festival and various other tourist attractions which make it different from Brazil's other industrial centres.

The German culture is clearly evident in the Germanic buildings, window-boxes, waiters in national dress, the architecture of the main market, the city arch and in the railway station. The National Museum of Immigration and Colonization tells the story of the princess and her prince consort. At the entrance to the museum, which used to be the royal residence, are enormous imperial palms planted in 1873.

Like Blumenau's Oktoberfest, Joinville also has a beer festival every October. In July, the Dance Festival takes place, forming part of the national calendar of festivals and events. For thirteen years the city has been the stage for around 4,000 national and international dancers from one hundred and forty dance groups, both amateur and professional. The Festival has been taking place since 1983 and is watched by more than 200,000 people annually.