No fireworks festival in Scheveningen this year

The annual fireworks festival in Scheveningen will not take place this year. The organization behind the festival and the municipality could not reach an agreement on the safety requirements, Bjorn van Dijl of the Internationaal Vuurwerkfestival foundation said to newspaper AD.

Every year is a battle to get security guards, traffic controllers and shuttle buses organized, according to Van Dijl. "But this year we did not even get that far", he said to the newspaper. "We drew up a whole new safety plan, and new demands were made on it. At one point time overtook us and we hoisted the white flat."

The success of the fireworks festival was part of its downfall this year, Van Dijl added. Last year 400 thousand people attended. "Now it was asked of me what guarantee I can give that no more visitors would come. Of course I couldn't."

Whether the festival will take place again next year is not yet clear. "That depends on many factors, including money", Van Dijl said.