Sinterklaas’ arrival in Hoogezand in the Netherlands will not take place on Saturday because volunteers from the organization have been threatened. The foundation’s board fears that it cannot guarantee “the safety of volunteers and visitors”, and therefore decided in an emergency meeting on Monday evening to cancel the arrival. “It should have been a big party for us on Saturday, November 16, but unfortunately we can no longer make this happen.”
“It concerns multiple threats to both the execution of Zwarte Piet but also that of Roetveeg Piet,” the foundation reported on Facebook on Tuesday. Secretary Herman Meertens of the organization does not want to tell RTV Noord from which angle the threats come. “That’s how we decided. We don’t want to add fuel to the fire.”
The arrival in nearby Muntendam was also canceled earlier, writes RTV Noord. There, two members of the organizing working group received a threatening letter in which the sender demanded that only soot wipers be used during the arrival.