The annual bonfires on the beaches of Scheveningen and Duindorp in The Hague will be lit Monday night at 11 p.m., a day earlier than planned, due to high wind forecasts. The KNMI predicts wind speeds of force 6 or 7 along the coast on New Year’s Eve A similar bonfire in The Hague’s Laak district will also take place Monday night "By holding the bonfires on Monday evening the builders and spectators can still enjoy this Hague tradition safely albeit a day earlier," said The Hague Mayor Jan van Zanen Builders in Scheveningen had already anticipated the change on Sunday predicting that the 10-meter-high woodpile would be set ablaze on December 30 high winds similarly prompted an early start to The Hague’s bonfires a light and laser show near the Hofvijver pond will proceed as planned on New Year’s Eve but fireworks have been banned near the Binnenhof government complex due to fire risk Rotterdam's major fireworks display at the Erasmus Bridge is still scheduled to take place Organizers of the National Fireworks event said they currently expect the high winds will not disrupt the show North Holland and the Wadden Sea region are under a yellow weather warning during the New Year’s period with gusts up to 90 kilometers per hour expected South Holland has no weather warnings at this time said the show can proceed with winds of up to 9 meters per second (about force 5-6 on the Beaufort scale) “Current forecasts are at 8 meters per second but we’re in the clear for now,” Rouwenhorst said He expressed confidence the show will go on and noted further consultations are planned for Tuesday afternoon The annual event attracts approximately 70,000 visitors the municipal government has ordered the annual bonfire to be lit on Monday night at 11 p.m. citing strong winds expected on New Year’s Eve The city has yet to announce how the yellow weather warning will impact other events such as the light and fireworks show at Museumplein The municipality of Waadhoeke in Friesland has canceled all six planned bonfires due to safety concerns The events were scheduled to take place in Oosterbierum Local officials said strong winds and the risk of airborne embers posed too great a danger to nearby areas Waadhoeke chose not to move its bonfires to an earlier date the bonfires are secondary to gathering together Nobody has asked for the fires to be moved up,” a Waadhoeke spokesperson said severe weather forced the cancellation of a bonfire in Floradorp on New Year’s Eve itself officials are urging strict compliance with the decision to light fires early The municipality said it expects organizers to follow the revised schedule was lit in an annual competition with neighbouring Duindorp ShareSavePeople cheer as power comes back on in MadridResidents applauded as the lights came back on in Spain's capital, after a huge power cut brought the country to a standstill. 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New speed climbing record set in the Swiss AlpsA climbing pair shatter the record for completing the daunting north faces of a famed trio of Swiss mountains. 2022 Work starts on building up the bonfire at Schevening Photo: Olaf Kraak ANPWork starts on building up the bonfire at Schevening Photo: Olaf Kraak ANPThe beaches of Scheveningen and Duindorp will be lit up by bonfires again this New Year’s Eve following a three-year ban The annual event was scrapped when a large number of cinders from the Scheveningen bonfire blew across the beach and damaged dozens of cars and homes Vuurregen #Scheveningen. Daken, bosjes, auto’s staan in brand van het brandende ad van het Vreugdevuur. pic.twitter.com/7P1DZe6fxM — Danny Vis (@vis_danny) January 1, 2019 An inquiry later found confirmed that the bonfire – which towered 48 metres above the beach – was 13 metres higher than permitted but officials did not intervene and stop the blaze The scandal let to the resignation of mayor Pauline Krikke Current mayor Jan van Zanen has now given permission for the bonfires to go ahead but under ‘strict conditions’ as to size. The piles cannot be higher or wider than 10 metres so as not to jeopardise public safety, local broadcaster Omroep West said. The ban on bonfires led to riots two years ago and again during the coronavirus restrictions. We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day. Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days! We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here. Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey. Update, 6:30 p.m.: Power was restored for most affected people by about 5:30 p.m., Stedin said in an update. The duration of the outage was approximately 90 minutes. The cause of the disruption has not been determined. A power outage affecting the city center and other parts of The Hague left tens of thousands of people without electricity at the end of Tuesday afternoon. There were many problems on the city’s public transport network as a result, creating a difficult rush hour situation for many even though trains were largely running on time. "Please only call the emergency services for real emergencies," local authorities wrote on citizen alert system Burgernet just before 4:30 p.m. A total of 45,200 households and businesses were without power, according to grid operator Stedin. Aside from the city center, people reported problems in the coastal areas of Duindorp and Scheveningen, as well as the Archipelbuurt, Kompasbuurt, and other nearby neighborhoods. Stedin said it was hoping to have the issue resolved between 6:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. “Our technicians are on their way to determine the cause and resolve the outage as quickly as possible,” the company said on social media. First responders were answering multiple calls of people trapped in elevators, records show. Several national government buildings were evacuated because of the electricity outage. Among them are the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. But with the trouble extending through the end of the afternoon, the expectation is that commuters trying to get home will continue to have difficulty doing so. Public transport system HTM reported cancellations, delays and detours on each of the city’s tram routes. "I was just driving and suddenly poof! Power gone," one tram operator in The Hague told Omroep West. "Then the job is to come to a halt as safely as possible by letting the tram roll as far as possible and then letting the passengers out. And now we have to wait until we have power again, that's all we can do," he said. HTM said it was unlikely for normal service to be restored before 5:30 p.m., but disrupted service could be extended by at least an hour. The Haaglanden security office declared a Grip 2 regional emergency because of the incident. This ensured that a Regional Operational Team would be set up to coordinate the emergency response from a central location. They can then provide advice, and help collect and disseminate information as needed. They are also responsible for briefing the mayor’s office. © 2012-2025, NL Times, All rights reserved. Photo: Robin Utrecht ANPDespite social distancing Photo: Robin Utrecht ANPOfficials in The Hague are looking into claims that a demonstration in the neighbourhood of Duindorp was actually an excuse for a party Footage of the event circulating on social media show a large group of people dancing and chanting on the Tesselseplein on Thursday afternoon Ondertussen in Duindorp: een ‘oudejaarsfeest’ op het Tesselseplein. #DenHaag #Duindorp #oudennieuw pic.twitter.com/azTkLCVPOp — Ismaël de Bruijn (@IsmaeldeBruijn) December 31, 2020 The Hague’s mayor Jan van Zanen said in a reaction that the event was a real demonstration which had been notified to the authorities I have seen the photos and we are now looking into it,’ he said The fact that music was being played did not necessarily mean that the event was a party,’ he said ‘Demonstrations come in all shapes and sizes,’ he said The demonstration had been called to protest about the cancellation of the New Year beach bonfire, which has become a traditional part of Duindorp’s celebrations since the 1990s. The bonfires on the beaches of Scheveningen and Duindorp in The Hague will be lit a day earlier than planned. The wind is expected to be blowing too hard on New Year's Eve, and thus the wood pallets will go up in flames starting at 11 p.m. on Friday evening. The municipality of The Hague has announced that wind force 6 or 7 is expected on the beach on New Year's Eve. That is equivalent to wind speeds of about 40 to 60 kilometers per hour. "That poses too great a risk for local residents, spectators and buildings." The mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, called it a downer that the bonfires cannot be lit at the turn of the year itself. "But we have agreed that the fire will only be lit if it is safe to do so. Safety comes first." Due to the bad weather forecast, the fireworks show and the New Year's party around the Hofvijver will not take place on Saturday evening. The smaller bonfires in the Laak and Escamp districts cannot be lit either. Construction of those was set to begin on Saturday. Wooden pallets have been piled up on the beaches of Scheveningen and Duindorp in recent days. These stacks may be a maximum of 10 meters high, 10 meters long and 10 meters wide. The bonfires were a tradition in Scheveningen and Duindorp for many years. Young people from the neighborhoods worked for days to build the highest pile of wood. The situation went awry during the turn of the year from 2018 to 2019. The strong wind then blew smoldering wood across Scheveningen. The shower of burning embers caused more than a million euros in damage there. It then turned out that the two piles of wood on the beach were much higher than had been agreed with the municipality. The towers were allowed to be 35 meters high, but the Duindorp stack was almost 49 meters high and the one in Scheveningen was over 45 meters. The municipality did not do enough to enforce the rules. The investigation led to the resignation of Mayor Pauline Krikke. Due to the shower of embers, the bonfires were not allowed on the following New Year's Eve. After that, the bonfires were not allowed to be built up due to restrictions related to the coronavirus. This year, Scheveningen and Duindorp received permission to build up the piles of wood for the first time in four years. 2019 The Scheveningen and Duindorp bonfires before they were lit Photo: Laurens van Putten /HHThe Scheveningen and Duindorp bonfires before they were lit Photo: Laurens van Putten /HHThis year’s New Year bonfires at the beaches of Scheveningen and Duindorp may be no bigger than 10 metres by 10 metres by 10 metres or nothing,’ Remkes said at his first meeting of The Hague’s city council on Thursday Last year’s fires were 45 metres and 48 metres tall and the Scheveningen fire sent huge clouds of cinders into the seaside town causing people to run for cover and causing major damage to buildings and cars A damning report by the Dutch safety board at the beginning of this month led mayor Pauline Krikke to resign She was slammed for failing to act when she knew the fire broke the rules Remkes is due to meet the two foundations which organise the bonfire building contests on Friday The Duindorp team have already applied for a permit to build a fire this year Scheveningen and the nearby district Duindorp have had a competition to build the highest bonfire since the early 1990s We could not provide the Dutch News service without the generous support of our readers Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days We could not provide this service without you Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey and Laak in The Hague will be lit on Saturday evening and not during New Year's Eve as was intended The wind is expected to be too strong on New Year's Eve the stacks of wood pallets will be set alight at 7 p.m predicts a wind force of six to seven in The Hague ahead of New Year's Eve "This wind force exceeds the limits agreed in advance in the permit," the municipality said The wind is not expected to blow too hard on Saturday evening Mayor Jan van Zanen has notified the builders about the decision The fires were also lit a day early last year due to predicted strong winds A decision whether fireworks will be set off after the countdown to midnight at the Hof Vijfer will be announced on New Year's Eve with music surrounding the midnight moment https://www.facebook.com/vreugdevuur.scheveningen/videos/1109048633323415/?app=fbl Police in The Hague made a further four arrests on Wednesday night as the fallout from the New Year beach bonfire ban continues The four were arrested for throwing fireworks and bring the arrest total to 38 since the troubles began Two thirds of the people arrested are under the age of 18 where most of the arrests took place at the weekend and on Monday there was again a heavy police presence and no reports of trouble The rioting follows the city council’s decision to impose stricter safety rules on the New Year beach bonfire competition between The Hague’s suburbs of  Duindorp and Scheveningen constructed of thousands of wooden pallets were much bigger than formally sanctioned and the Scheveningen fire sent gales of cinders over the streets Last Friday Duindorp’ bonfire team say they would not build a fire this year because the new rules are too strict, leading to a weekend of rioting and arson. And on Tuesday, acting mayor Johan Remkes said Scheveningen’s licence application was incomplete and inadequate Thirteen people have been arrested after riot police tackled a second night of unrest in The Hague’s coastal suburb of Duindorp Some of those arrested on Sunday were children, including a nine-year-old boy who was caught with a Molotov cocktail the city’s acting mayor Johan Remkes said Remkes urged police and other emergency services to work ‘closely together’ ‘to face down lawlessness in The Hague’. NOS said police believed a group of around 50 people The trouble has been linked to the city council’s decision to ban the giant New Year bonfire towers that have been a feature of the annual festivities since the 1990s Last year strong gusts of winds caused ‘fire tornados’ at Scheveningen when they carried flames from a 48 metre-high stack of burning pallets across the seafront The city’s previous mayor, Pauline Krikke, resigned in October when a safety board report revealed that she was aware that the bonfires breached safety rules including a limit on the height of the stack but decided not to intervene because she feared repercussions The organisers of the traditional vreugdevuur – literally ‘fire of joy’ – last week pulled out of talks with the council to organise smaller-scale bonfires this year They said their plans did not meet the local authority’s stringent guidelines The council had been due to make a decision on whether to allow the event to go ahead on Tuesday In a Facebook post, the organisation blamed the council for failing to allow the bonfires to go ahead describing the outcome as ‘a blow for the many hundreds of people who warmly appreciate our vreugdevuur‘ The large communal bonfires were introduced in the 1990s to regulate the informal tradition of lighting street bonfires from discarded Christmas trees The bonfire organisers wrote: ‘As an organisation we have focused for years on building a controlled vreugdevuur so that the problems in and around our neighbourhood disappeared ‘Since we are not being allowed to organise a fire we will not be used to organise other activities to keep the peace The ball is now in the council’s court because we are washing our hands of the whole thing.’ Acting mayor Johan Remkes said he would not be forced to change his mind by the threat of violence ‘The goverment must never be blackmailed in this way,’ he said ‘That at least is the attitude of this mayor and I hope the council will not allow itself to be swayed by this either.’ The municipality in The Hague does not intend to ban consumer fireworks this upcoming New Year’s though the city will create more fireworks-free zones It also looks like the New Year’s bonfires on the beaches in Duindorp and Scheveningen will happen this year The municipality already issued event permits and the province of Zuid-Holland plans to grant the organizers a nature permit The Hague will significantly increase its fireworks-free zones where people are not allowed to light fireworks the city already banned fireworks around hospitals The Hague is adding another 30 zones this year including “around riding stables and green areas There will likely be no fireworks show at the Hofvijver the show got canceled at the last minute due to coronavirus restrictions there is “no organization that can and wants to organize such a fireworks show.” The bonfires in Duindorp and Scheveningen will likely happen the municipality of The Hague gave the organizers an even permit meaning that the city approved their plans for ensuring the safety of visitors and local residents the organizers also need a nature permit from the province Duindorp and Scheveningen are both next to protected Natura 2000 areas - Westduinpark and Wapendal at Duindorp and Meijendel and Berkheide at Scheveningen The smoke from the bonfires can release nitrogen there The province asked the Haaglanden Environmental Agency to calculate and it concluded that the nitrogen emissions from the bonfires would “not affect” the nature areas and locals can object until the beginning of November The organizers also require a water permit The Delfland water board said it is still assessing the applications The municipality of The Hague also has to issue an environmental exemption The Hague did not allow Scheveningen and Duindorp to build bonfires for the 2019/20 New Year’s And then coronavirus restrictions prevented the bonfires in the two years after that the bonfire piles can’t be larger than 10 meters long The fire department advised that the New Year's bonfires on the beaches of Scheveningen and Duindorp can be no larger than 10 meters by 10 meters. And the builders of the bonfires will have to hold to that recommendation, interim The Hague mayor Johan Remkes said at his first council meeting on Thursday The bonfire tradition was originally created to prevent disturbances in The Hague around New Year's. Last year the bonfires got completely out of hand The fire towers were 45 meters and 48 meters high - much higher than stated in the agreements made between the municipality and the builders combined with how the fire towers were built resulted in a rain of sparks blowing over Scheveningen Last year, the Scheveningen and Duindorp builders raced to see who could be the first to reach a fire tower of 35 meters high, Remkes said. They both exceeded it by at least 10 meters. "Taking the competition element out seems very sensible to me", Remkes said. "This has led to very unhealthy conditions." On Friday, Remkes is meeting with representatives of the two foundations behind the bonfires. He will inform them of the limits set by the fire department recommendations. According to Remkes, the builders in Scheveningen have already filed for a permit to build a bonfire this New Year's. The Duindorp builders haven't yet. Photo: Laurens van Putten /HHOfficials in The Hague have begun an investigation into the Scheveningen New Year bonfire which sent clouds of cinders across the seaside resort causing small fires and damaging dozens of cars and bikes The city’s mayor Pauline Krikke has now confirmed that the bonfire – which towered 48 metres above the beach – was 13 metres higher than permitted but as yet it is unclear why officials did not intervene and stop the blaze Sources close to the mayor have told broadcaster NOS that officials decided not to get involved to head off ‘social unrest’ the strong sea wind blasted the flames from the Scheveningen fire across the beach to the boulevard Vuurtornado ziet er zo uit ….#scheveningen pic.twitter.com/eYXVYrejdK — Ourania 🕴🏻 (@OuraniaNereus) January 1, 2019 It has since emerged that the maximum height of the bonfire is set down in a covenant between the city council and the organisers #Scheveningen ….45 meter hoog… pic.twitter.com/5C9d1fUVZ0 — Rita Weegink (@ritakampman) December 31, 2018 Former mayor Jozias van Aartsen said in 2016 that the competition between the two towns was threatening to get out of hand He also established that the organisers did not keep to the rules about making sure no more than 25,000 pallets were used and that building work stopped at 4pm the police and herself have doubts about whether the competition should be allowed to continue She has set up a ‘far reaching inquiry’ which will take several months to complete The beach bonfires were first introduced in the early 1990s as a safety measure to prevent locals setting dozens of smaller fires to see in the New Year, and the competition has been included on the Dutch cultural heritage list since 2014. That year the winning Duindorp pile was just 15 metres high Children’s television showed drone footage highlighting the scale of the towers on Monday afternoon A power outage in The Hague impacted tens of thousands of customers on Monday The outage was first reported at about 11 a.m. and primarily affected the west side of the city The outage was also causing problems with the city's tram network The municipality of The Hague said that the power outage was also affecting city operations and transactions at City Hall desks were not possible It was not immediately clear when the malfunction would be resolved “The failure was caused by a problem in the main distribution station near the power plant,” the energy provider said The problem led to electricity being cut off to parts of The Hague Technicians were on site working on a solution the company said shortly after the lights went out The company was also facing a high volume of phone calls making it difficult to discuss the issue with customers according to a post from Stedin on social media The Hague public transport company HTM said They expected tram traffic to be up and running again by around 2:00 p.m Public transit users should take extra travel time into account #stroomstoring #denhaag #ontruiming #centrum pic.twitter.com/S2vWBA3i4a Yay poweroutage just when I was typing in the most wonderful code I‘ve ever produced. 2nd time in a few weeks The Hague has a power failure. #stroomstoring #Scheveningen Stroomstoring in Den Haag: ambtenaren van ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport in de Zurichtoren zitten buiten te wachten totdat er weer stroom is. pic.twitter.com/81SoruYNVZ