Everything points to Brabant being able to celebrate carnival again after two years. According to the plans that were leaked on Monday, the pubs will be allowed to use their normal closing times from February 25th. Exactly the day when the folk festival starts. The catering industry and carnival associations are delighted. By canceling parades and events, they expect that carnival will mainly result in a pub party.
“The carnival genie was already out of the bottle. Nobody can get it back,” says Rob van de Laar of the Brabant Carnival Federation. It could just be one of the reasons why the cabinet is letting go of the earlier closing times at the start of carnival. Pubs and cafes are allowed to remain open until late into the night. This completely reverses the chances for the carnival-goers in Brabant.
“We won’t have enough room for all the carnival-goers.”
“Not even four weeks ago, the entire catering industry was still locked. In two weeks we can open again like before the pandemic. If you look at where we come from and where we are going, I am of course very happy,” Loek de responds. Graauw, chairman of the catering association 11-11 in Den Bosch.
According to him, it will nevertheless be a very different carnival than usual. “There will not be enough capacity. We can no longer add all kinds of extra tents and pavilions in such a short period of time. That is why we must try to be there mainly for the people from Brabant, so that they can celebrate the party.” According to him, it would be good to ask outsiders not to visit the Brabant carnival this year, because there is not enough space. The catering industry in Den Bosch will meet with the municipality on Wednesday for consultation.
“Not a full-fledged carnival, but rather a big pub party.”
For Rob van de Laar, the glass is already ’77 percent full’, although parades, events and other carnival activities are cancelled. “It will not be a full-fledged carnival, but above all it will be a pub party. In itself also a nice idea because after two years people are ready for a kind of outlet.”
Van de Laar expects carnival associations to celebrate their own party in closed rooms. At the same time, he wonders what will be possible outside the bars, on the streets and squares. “If a carnival club starts making music in the open air, partygoers will naturally come to that. Do you have to enforce it? Can there be bars, chip shops and fish stalls? I don’t know how the government will deal with that. That remains to be seen. But despite all the uncertainty, this is great positive news.”
“It has been brewing for two weeks, everyone is ready to start.”
Ruud Bakker, chairman of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland in Eindhoven: “This is a very positive message. It has been brewing for two weeks, everyone is on the starting blocks and waiting for the green light. With this signal, the red light has already turned orange.” In Eindhoven, there are normally large tents on De Markt, Stadhuisplein and Wilhelminaplein. Bakker hopes that it will be possible to arrange this in the short term. “That will be a challenge, it would be great if it works out. It promises a great carnival. to become like that.”
“This is going to be a liberation party.”
“The champagne has already run out.” Johan de Vos, manager of café Boerke Verschuren and catering foreman in Breda, cannot believe his luck. “That the withdrawal of most corona measures coincides with carnival? We couldn’t get any better. This really does a lot to me,” says De Vos, who assumes he is not made happy with a dead sparrow.
“The cabinet can’t go back, can it? There are significantly fewer than two hundred patients with corona in the IC. I’m done with the fact that our industry has to adhere to all kinds of measures. We really waited two years for this. I’m glad I started three weeks ago to make preparations to go full steam ahead with Carnival. Because that’s going to happen. Oh, how we longed for this. You should know how many candles I lit. This will be a liberation party,” says De Vos.
“I hope that all brakes can also be released for the night catering.”
He realizes that there will hardly be any major activities outside, but inside it will become all the busier or more pleasant, he reasons. De Vos says that he is still in consultation with carnival associations to make further agreements. “But that contact is just good.” In all the euphoria about the expansion for his sector, De Vos also sympathizes with the nightly entertainment venues. He hopes that all brakes can be released on these matters, too, until deep into the night.
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