All parties and other celebrations that are not professionally organised will be banned for the next four weeks in the province of East Flanders, announced provincial governor Carina Van Cauter on Tuesday.
The decision was made after consultation with the mayors and experts, and mainly concerns activities by youth associations or sports clubs.
"It is not our intention to shut down the nightlife or hit the professional sector," the governor's office clarified to the Belga News Agency. "We assume that they can respect the federal regulations."
"This decision is aimed at parties or public events, such as parties of youth movements, in a tent on the municipal square. We want to curb that," her office added.
Events or parties in clubs and dancing cafés, which fall under the federal coronavirus rules and are organised professionally, are not covered by the Police Decree and can continue for the time being.
Private parties do not fall under the regulation either. "Anyone who wants to organise a private party of thirty people has no problem," the office added.
The police decree takes effect from Friday 26 November and ends at 26 December, meaning it does not include anything about New Year's celebrations yet.
"We are not going to make sure that New Year's Eve cannot be celebrated in East Flanders while it can be celebrated elsewhere. But we suppose the rules will be different by then anyway."
