Dutch municipalities not volunteering to host Sinterklaas arrival

NTR, responsible for Sinterklaas' arrival in the Netherlands every year, hasn't received any requests from Dutch municipalities to host the event this year, according to a letter the broadcaster sent the Dutch Association of Mayors, NU.nl reports.

Every year the public broadcaster receives requests from various municipalities who want to organize the event. But by March 7th, when the letter was sent, their hadn't been a single one.

"We can only guess at the cause of this", NTR wrote in the letter. "We could of course wait and see if a municipality reports in the coming time, but - in the view of the long preparation time needed for such a large project - that would be rather risky. It could stand in the way of a proper organization of the arrival, or even make it impossible."

A NTR spokesperson told NU.nl that after media reports on the letter, several municipalities let the broadcaster know that they want to host the party.