Mayors cancel Carnaval season kick-off as coronavirus infections mount

Photo: Mark Ahsmann via Wikimedia Commons
Carnaval in Maastricht. Photo: Mark Ahsmann via Wikimedia Commons

The start of the Carnaval season in Limburg will not kick off with a grand event because of the new coronavirus requirements, local mayors have decided.

The run-up to Carnaval proper next February starts on November 11 and some 17,000 people had been expected to attend the official launch in Roermond.

‘We have rising infections in northern and central Limburg and that is impacting the healthcare sector,’ Venlo mayor Antoin Scholten told local broadcaster 1Limburg. People working in healthcare had also asked the local safety board chiefs to act, Scholten said.

No decision has yet been taken about festivities planned for the south of the province.

News agency ANP said later on Friday that most activities planned for Noord-Brabant, where Carnaval is also widely celebrated, will go ahead.

Carnaval takes place from February 27 to March 1 next year. November 11, the feast of Sint Maarten, is the day on which preparations for the main event start and the new Carnaval prince is announced.

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