Oeteldonk has had a very busy, but problem-free day. According to the municipality of Den Bosch, this attracted approximately 100,000 people to the city on Sunday. At the busiest moment, 70,000 people were present spread across the heart of Den Bosch. At a quarter to four it threatened to become so busy that the municipality asked people who wanted to celebrate Carnival there not to travel to Den Bosch.
‘Celebrate Carnival somewhere else! Oeteldonk is currently full,” the municipality said at the time. The busiest places were Korte Putstraat and Snellestraat. A number of streets, such as Minderbroederstraat and Minderbroedersplein, had to be closed at a certain time. According to the municipality, no incidents occurred and the first aid posts were quiet.
Don’t take the call too seriously
At a bus stop in Vlijmen, carnival revelers still had hope of getting to Oeteldonk at the end of the afternoon. “We’re not small players, we’re just going into town,” Jesse said firmly. He was waiting with a group of friends for bus 135, to Den Bosch. “I don’t take the municipality’s call too seriously. She says every year that it is full.”
And the group of friends from Vlijmen was certainly not the only one who faced the carnival dilemma. “I was on the train from Tiel to Oeteldonk, but then you’re already on the train,” said a partygoer who gave it a try anyway. Another group from Kaatsheuvel, on the other hand, chose to turn around. “It’s so busy here that it’s really no longer fun.”
The Dutch Railways has shared Den Bosch’s call in several ways at the request of the municipality. For example, the message that the city center was full was announced at several major stations, a spokeswoman said around six o’clock. According to her, it became increasingly quiet at the end of the afternoon on the trains to Den Bosch and at the station of the Brabant capital.
At the beginning of the evening on Saturday, the municipality of Tilburg also advised to avoid the city due to enormous crowds.