La Boum organisers planning a test event for 15 May

The Abîme collective, the organisation behind the La Boum events in Brussels, has scheduled a new event for 15 May, it announced on its Facebook page on Tuesday.  

The event, entitled "The Boum Test", has been set up in reaction to a statement released by the interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, on Monday which suggested a test event could be approved. She later retracted the statement, but l'Abîme has seemingly taken her words as a green light to organise a test.

Following "La Boum 2" on 1 May, the collective announced that it had applied for authorisation from the Brussels police for the organisation of a new event entitled "La Boum 3" on 29 May, again in the Bois de la Cambre.

In her initial reaction to this, Verlinden said that a meeting with the organisers was possible to discuss some kind of test event. But she quickly retracted her remarks.

The organisers of "La Boum 3" in turn reacted to the minister's first statement and decided to organise a new event under the name "The Boum Test". It would take place on 15 May, in the Bois de la Cambre, as a prelude to "La Boum 3". Brussels police confirmed that they had also received a request for the demonstration and will now take a closer look at it.

"We think the minister's idea is excellent. Don’t you”? the group posted on its Facebook page. “So, we are looking for volunteers to attend a party without health restrictions. We will also need a percentage of volunteers for a corona test before and after the event."

The planned test event on 15 May would clash with an already organised gathering in the Bois de la Cambre, put together by the World Wide Demonstration Belgium movement. The organisers of the rally, a call for global freedom where attendees "will walk, sing and dance in the woods", have distanced themselves from "La Boum" and the Abîme collective.