Festivals with up to 750 visitors can go ahead from mid August

Small one-day outdoor festivals with up to 750 visitors can be held under strict conditions from August 14, the cabinet has decided.

But bigger events, with thousands of people, are still out of the question, even if they don’t involve overnight stays, ministers said on Monday.

To attend a small outdoor event – which can take place in a tent if all four sides are open – visitors will have to show they are fully vaccinated, have a negative test no older than 24 hours, or have had coronavirus within the past six months.

The organisers of festivals and events which cannot now go ahead can claim compensation from the government’s special coronavirus funds.

The cabinet’s decision follows recommendations from its Outbreak Management Team experts who say that it is only responsible to decide about small scale events at the moment.

The decision should have been taken on August 13 but has been brought forward at the request of event organisers who said they would take the cabinet to court unless they had clarity earlier.

Last week the cabinet decided that multi-day festivals could not be held until September 1 at least because of the infection risk.

At least 62 clusters of at least 20 coronavirus infections were identified in the two weeks that restrictions on cafes, clubs and festivals were lifted, according to figures put together by public health institute RIVM.