“It’s a tradition”, they want “a little fun life” and “you can’t ban everything” say the Dutch who ignore the fireworks ban. They just drive an hour or more to buy a batch of bangers and decorative fireworks just across the border with Belgium, so that they can welcome the new year appropriately.
Fireworks ban? That does not exist in Baarle-Hertog, the Belgian village on the border with Brabant that is so closely intertwined with the Dutch Baarle-Nassau. A day after the official declaration of the ban by the cabinet, dozens of Dutch people walk through the center of the Belgian part of Baarle on their way to one of the six local fireworks shops.
“You are not allowed to do anything all year round,” says a middle-aged resident of The Hague with unadulterated Hague accent in front of the Zena Fireworks de Bunker store. “They’ve already taken two vacations. They won’t take this away from me. ”
A young couple, Rinke and Tamara, both 19, even arrived all the way from Friesland on Saturday to stock up on fireworks in the border village. Rinke charges 221 euros at the till, especially for decorative fireworks. “Can we end the year a bit nicely?” He says with a grin. Yes, it is not allowed, Tamara agrees, but what is still allowed nowadays? “We’ve been inside for a year now, and it hasn’t even been shown how dangerous that virus is.” They’ll just set off fireworks on New Years. “I take that 100 euros fine for granted,” said Rinke.
A father from Brabant agrees, who carries a box of fireworks with his son to the trunk of his car. “I am quite rebellious. We have a good right to continue traditions, “he says. “I take that fine in the bargain.” His son carries a large round Celebration Cracker next to him, good for 3000 bangs and because of its shape also called “pizza”. “We take that risk!”, The kid says tough.
Rascals
Yet it is noticeably quieter in Baarle than in other years, says manager Pedro Kipping of Zena. According to him, this has nothing to do with the current lockdown in Belgium, which means that all “non-essential” shops are closed, including the fireworks shops. Because picking up at the stores is allowed, and all businesses have widely covered this in their newsletters and on social media: ordering via the internet, picking up at the store’s pick-up counter during the specified time slot.
“You notice that the good citizens now stay at home. Only the crooks will come, “says Kipping with a wink. In Belgium, fireworks can be sold all year round – in contrast to the Netherlands and Germany, where this is only allowed in the last three days of the year (and not at all in the Netherlands this year). Kipping saw the influx of Dutch buyers take on increasingly massive proportions, especially in November and December. But that’s over. “In previous years, we had 300-500 customers on about Saturday in mid-November,” said Kipping. “Now only twelve people have placed an order via the internet, which they come to collect today. Normally there would be fifteen employees in the business here, now I’m on my own. ”
Geert (47) and Jan (52), two friends from a village near Gorinchem, are looking a bit confused at the pick-up counter. They did not know that the store was closed and that you had to order in advance via the internet. They have been coming here for years. “In the past with the scooter from Tilburg,” Geert recalls. In recent years they have been making a day out, also to stock up on tobacco and beer. “If you see that the police are carrying out checks on the way there, you just have to take another way back via such a farmland road,” says Jan as an expert by experience.
Police checks
All customers are somewhat apprehensive about this, especially now: police checks on the Dutch side of the border. “Sometimes they even call me: are there any checks?”, Says Kipping. “But of course I don’t know either. The police have said that they are going to check more, but there is still little to notice. Moreover, there are many shortcuts – there are 36 border crossings. Here it is Belgium, but 25 meters to the left and 25 meters to the right it is the Netherlands again. ”
Baarle has therefore always been a smuggler’s village: butter, tobacco, alcohol and much more, says Kipping. But he does underline that the fireworks that he and his colleagues sell in Belgium are completely legal and comply with all European directives. “It is now only forbidden in the Netherlands,” says Kipping, who himself is Dutch. “It can be compared to a Belgian who buys his weed in a coffee shop in the Netherlands – that is again prohibited here in Belgium.”
Nice life
The Dutch are also waiting for their turn to pick up boxes with mufflers, cake boxes, compounds or fountains at Loots Fireworks, in a street away. “You can’t forbid everything,” says Danny from Brabant. “You also have to have a nice life. Otherwise you will only get more bullshit. ”
In addition, he complains that the “high lords” themselves do not even follow their own rules: “Look at the king who flies to Greece or Grapperhaus and his wedding – that is a big joke.”
16-year-old Scott and his father Hugo (50) and friend Bjorn (17) are walking down the street carrying boxes full of fireworks. “I really wasn’t going to sit still on the couch for New Year’s Eve and watch Netflix at noon,” says Scott. “There really is going up in the air for us.” They come from South Holland, an hour’s drive. “Well, the boys want some entertainment,” says Hugo. “It’s a tradition, isn’t it.”
