Kevin Le Forain

Owners of fairground attractions stage protest in Brussels

Around three hundred trucks belonging to the owners of fairground attractions from across Belgium are staging a protest in the centre of Brussels. They are asking to be allowed to carry on working as much as possible and if this isn’t the case to be given financial support from public purse. A number of fairs that were to have taken place during the coming month have been cancelled as municipal authorities take action in order to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus. 

Friday morning’s demonstration has caused disruption to traffic on the Brussels inner ring road and the Brussels public transport company MIVB reports disruption and delays to a number of its bus and tram services.  

After Monday’s meeting of the National Security Council the City of Brussels decided to cancel this year’s South Fair that was to have got under way this weekend. The fair is one of the largest in Belgium and attracts tens of thousands of visitors. Many owners of fairground attractions had already started assembling their rides in preparation for the fair. The South Fair is not the only large fair to have been cancelled and the owners of attractions are deeply concerned for the future of their businesses.

Around 1,000 fairground attraction owners and fairground workers are taking part in the protest in a convoy of around 300 vehicles. The demonstration got under way at around 9:30 setting off from the Heizel Plateau in the northwest of Brussels. 

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