No Easter bonfires in Twente this year

There will be no Easter bonfires in Twente this year. The 14 municipalities in the region agreed to ban the traditional bonfires outright in order to prevent large groups of people gathering, RTV Oost reports.

This year Easter falls on Sunday 4 and Monday 5 April. While it is still unclear what the coronavirus lockdown will look like by then, the Twente security region considers it likely that large gatherings will still be banned.

The organizers of the bonfires were asked not to start building the pyres. "Due to fire safety, it is not desirable to leave piles of wood lying around. The risk of them being lit is too grate," the security region said to the broadcaster.