The large Brussels South Fair has been canceled. The fair would start this weekend, the construction was in full swing. The food vendors are furious.
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The Zuidfoor in Brussels will not go ahead. Brussels mayor Philippe Close announced this decision on Twitter, after the National Security Council today decided to reduce the bubbles and halve the number of people present at events.
“Due to the evolution of the epidemic since last Thursday, we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the Zuidfoor. The holding of this event is no longer possible, taking into account the new rules imposed by the National Security Council, ‘Mayor Close writes in a tweet.
Initially, the Zuidfoor wanted to limit the number of visitors to 800. Later the organization limited the number of visitors to 400 and mouth masks were required. However, the National Security Council today decided that 200 would be the limit for such events. And then Brussels decided in extremis to cancel everything while the construction of the fair was in full swing.
The representatives of the food vendors will be received by the mayor tomorrow to discuss the situation further. That promises to be a tough conversation. A possible support for the squares is also on the table during that meeting. But the disappointment is great among the market vendors. They had already started building their stalls, had made the necessary investments and were ready to start under strict hygiene conditions, with a mouth mask obligation. The expectations for the meeting with the mayor are small.
“We are angry. We don’t understand why we are seen as an event, we are in the same category as the market vendors and the catering industry. They are going to tell us that we are only allowed to see 200 people, but in the meantime the busy Zuidmarkt can continue on Sunday, right next to us, ‘says Patrick de Corte, representative of the market vendors.
“The market vendors are gone. Even under strict measures, we wanted to keep it going. That way we earn a little money. There are stall vendors that have no income since March. All other fairgrounds in the country had now turned their attention to the course of the Brussels South Fair, de Corte concludes.
The Zuidfoor would take place from August 1 to 31.
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