2025 is just around the corner and with it comes the craziness of fireworks as the Netherlands celebrates New Year’s Eve. This year, a total of 19 Dutch municipalities have chosen to impose a local fireworks ban over the New Year, while several other cities are opting for fireworks-free zones.

Fireworks bans in multiple Dutch cities for NYE 2024

In 2023, 16 municipalities in the Netherlands banned fireworks for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Three additional cities have prohibited the use of fireworks this year, bringing the total number to 19 out of 342 municipalities.

For the first time this year, Alkmaar, Utrecht and Zutphen are enacting general bans covering the entirety of their municipalities, RTL Nieuws reported. This means that buying and setting off fireworks in these areas will not be permitted, only officially organised fireworks displays will be allowed.

Other Dutch cities that will continue with the ban of personal fireworks as they did in previous years are Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Arnhem, Bloemendaal, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Heemstede, Heumen, Mook en Middelaar, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Schiedam, Soest, Tilburg and Utrechtse Heuvelrug.

Some additional cities such as Almere, Breda, Amstelveen, The Hague, Doetinchem, Enschede, Groningen, Wageningen and Zwolle may not have general bans in place, but will introduce fireworks-free zones. This means that fireworks will be forbidden in areas close to zoos, parks, nursing homes and hospitals.

Heavy fireworks without permit can now earn prison time

Fireworks classified as category F4, which have been linked to explosions in residential areas, are only permitted to be used by professionals. Now, government regulations state that any person who is caught with such fireworks without a permit could be considered in possession of a weapon.

With this change, police in the Netherlands will be able to conduct preventive searches and dole out harsher punishments such as up to eight years in prison. “What we are now seeing are not firework incidents anymore. The power of these explosives is comparable to hand grenades,” said Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel. “These explosives are often being placed at people’s doors, which significantly increases the risk for the residents and nearby people. This is a different type of phenomenon than fireworks, and therefore, it needs a different form of action.”

Last year saw 8 million euros of property damage due to New Year’s fireworks, and this year could see a similar pattern. Despite the bans by many municipalities, online fireworks sales have gone up, with 15 percent more sales than last year. 

Thumb image credit: Dutchmen Photography / Shutterstock.com