The last press conference about the corona measures makes many carnival hearts beat faster. It rained Tuesday evening relaxations for the feast of feasts. Carnival will be bigger than last year, but what will it look like exactly? The conference tables are working overtime for ‘the gray area’.
Normally, carnival-goers in, for example, ‘t Kielegat (Breda) lug from pub to pub. There is a big party with stages on the Grote Markt. It is fun inside and out. No stages on the market this year, but how should it be outside? A brass band that is going to play: it could just be the start of a folk festival the size of a small festival. Are you going to maintain as a municipality?
‘Spontaneous parties’
“You can count it on your fingers: spontaneous parties are coming. For example, if someone shows up with a bluetooth speaker. Or people who stock up on drinks and come to the city,” thinks Ad Baelemans of beer café Catch22. “I will in any case not intervene outside, even if there is a beauty pageant. I’ve been playing a police officer for two years,” he says. “That’s not my job.”
And are pubs still allowed to put a bar outside? Will the municipality with extra security guards ensure that it does not get too busy? Or do you have to organize something to regulate the crowds? “It is still too early to answer that,” says a Breda municipal spokesperson a week and a half before carnival.
On Wednesday there will be consultation between the catering industry and the municipality of Breda. Several scenarios are ready. When will there be clarity? “We cannot indicate that now. I expect that will be in the coming days. But perhaps also next week,” says the spokesperson. They are also talking to the three Brabant security regions to draw a line. There is also a catering meeting in Den Bosch on Wednesday afternoon.
What we do know
What will we know after Tuesday evening? No big carnival parades this year, but a local party. Large outdoor events have also been drawn. From Carnival Friday, February 25, the pub will be open again until late at night.
You can enter places with fewer than 500 visitors without a corona pass. In places indoors where more people come together without a fixed seat, for example in night restaurants, everyone must show a negative test result. And the Brabant mayors appealed to the upper sloters not to come to the south.
And the pubs themselves? Most seem to get enough staff with a lot of skill. “Everyone is looking at where you get people from,” says Johan de Vos, vice chairman of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN) Breda department. “Due to the changing times, he has often had to call the staff. “Then it is until ten o’clock in the evening, then again one o’clock and now all night again. I’ve spoken to my staff four times already.”
They also finalize the planning at De Colonie in Breda. “I thought very early on: I need staff. Soon we may suddenly be allowed to open. That is now working out well,” says Peter van Belle. “Next week we will convert everything. Then we will just blast for sixteen hours a day.”
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