Banquet halls ready for New Year’s Eve, but reservations are coming in late

However, not everything is back to normal. The reservations come in very late and many people keep ordering a takeaway menu, just like in previous years. Pieter Hubrecht, Salons Denotter (Zedelgem): “What we do notice is that many people order take away for home, who have actually found their way to stay at home and who celebrate New Year’s Eve at home with two or three befriended couples.”

A remnant of the corona period or maybe not. For a number of people, the cost price of the New Year’s Eve menu may be too expensive in these difficult times. It is certain that partygoers also watch the cat out of the tree for a long time. “We do feel that people are taking a wait-and-see attitude to book. Normally we are actually full by November. But this year we noticed that it actually only started from November. Our feeling is that the groups are smaller than before. “

Bang urge

The Kursaal in Ostend can accommodate 2000 partygoers. New Year’s Eve is a tradition with fireworks on the beach. And today light and sound are set up and tested. And enough booze supplied to start the new year festively. Tim Seynaeve, Kursaal Oostende: “We have actually been waiting for 3 years to be able to shoot off all the confetti, which has been gathering dust here for 3 years. And we are also curious about the people. We have doubts ourselves : after 3 years, will people still feel like coming to party? But we’re already at 1,200 tickets.”

But even here late bookings are still coming in. And it was a long wait for reservations. “I think people are also used to organizing something at home among themselves. But we have noticed in the last week that ticket sales are really booming and that people are looking forward to going outside.”