After two years with a fireworks ban, we can blast again this New Year. Fireworks sales started in the Netherlands on Thursday and many shops are busy. “On average, people pay for 500 euros.”
Although you can now buy fireworks in the Netherlands again, many customers still opt for a Belgian store. At Zena Vuurwerk in Baarle-Nassau, customers come and go. “We are allowed to sell fireworks here all year round, but these are the busiest days,” says fireworks dealer Gijs ten Velde.
It is less busy than last year when no firecrackers were allowed to be sold in the Netherlands. “But it is busier than in 2019, before corona. People are happy that they can go wild again. Compounds in particular are popular. These are large boxes with one fuse, containing different types of fireworks. You light it once and you can look at it for a long time.”
Bang fireworks are out of vogue, Ten Velde notes. “People are increasingly buying decorative fireworks, customers are coming everywhere today. I had someone from Texel this morning, but people are also coming from South Limburg and Groningen. Perhaps this will be the last year that fireworks are set off in the Netherlands if there is a national ban People take it easy, they want their children to experience this too. People pay an average of 500 euros for fireworks.”
‘Last year all income went to the Belgian treasury’
At Vet Vuurwerk in Roosendaal, many people come to pick up fireworks that they have ordered online in advance. Fireworks can only be sold here a few days a year, the rest of the year owner Rinaldo Matthijssen has to rely on congratulatory cards, books and raffle tickets. The stationery store and fireworks store is small. People who come to pick up an order are given a time in advance when they are welcome.
The sky-high inflation is not causing customers to spend less, says Matthijssen. “They spend an average of 200 to 250 euros and then you have outliers. People who put down a thousand to fifteen hundred euros,” he claims.
Heavy rain is expected on New Year’s Eve. “But that’s not a problem with the compounds, although the wind can hinder something. People go outside anyway despite the rain.”
Matthijssen is happy that fireworks can be sold in the Netherlands again. “Last year it was also used everywhere, but then all income went to the Belgian treasury. It is a national turnover of millions. Then I like to take a piece of the pie.”