A location was found with pain and effort, but an Easter fire on Erica will not come this year. The municipality does not give permission, to the great displeasure of the organizing De Mammoet Foundation.
“This falls very raw on our roof. We have put a lot of energy into it. Then we would have preferred to hear in the beginning that it cannot continue,” says organizer Barry Gepken. According to him, arranging is becoming increasingly complicated. “We had to have a nitrogen analysis done, that also cost money and that was for nothing.”
But what hurts him the most is that an age -old party is stopped. “Before Jesus walked around, the Germans were already a fire festival here. We would really like to keep that culture, but it is made extremely difficult.”
The municipality of Emmen confirms that they do not allow the Easter fire in the form for which a permit was applied for. Emmen points out, among other things, provincial guidelines, where no new Easter fires and locations are allowed, but is used to make it possible to be already existing Easter fires.
Emmen also looked at ‘the intended location in combination with experiences from the past in this area’, after which no permission was given. “We understand that this organizer is disappointed and offered to talk.”
Gepken is already thinking about the future. For example, he wants to travel with his Mammoet image for the preservation of Easter fires. “Normally we bring the fire with the mammoth to the Easter bump. Now we have to make a big trip to The Hague to bring it to the attention. The sages must come from the east, this is a tradition that should not just be lost.”