Local councils are cutting back on ‘extravagant’ New Year receptions, the Volkskrant reports on Friday.

In Utrecht, for example, the traditional disco has been scrapped, but this has only made a marginal impact on the €60,000 bill, the paper says. Over one thousand people were at Utrecht’s reception on Wednesday night.
Rotterdam, by contrast, spends just €10,000 on ‘drinks and snacks’ in the city hall and Amsterdam stopped holding New Year receptions in 2010, saving €150,000 a year, the paper says.
Locations
Breda, Apeldoorn and Groningen have since followed the capital’s example. Arnhem plans to halve its New Year party budget to €25,000 from 2014 and in Den Helder the location has been switched from the local theatre to the town hall.
The Hague, however, remains unmoved and holds the most expensive party, with a budget of €125,000, the paper says.
‘Our reception is for everyone in The Hague,’ a spokesman told the Volkskrant. The drinks party is ‘the opportunity to get in contact with each other and the city authorities,’ the spokesman said.