Rotterdam’s Sinterklaas procession next year will only involve sooty-faced Piets, the local organising committee has decided.

The change, which was moved forward, comes after trouble at several of this year’s processions. In Rotterdam, three pro-Piet activists were arrested for attacking anti-racism campaigners.

Philip van der Kloot Meijburg, who heads the Sinterklaas welcoming committee in the port city, said the new style Piet, complete with an agreed number of sooty smears, is a result of consultations with Rutu Rotterdam, a network organisation for young black people.

‘We had to think about it but we are an organisation that listens to the voice of Rotterdam. We want to set an example to other cities that still have blackface Piets,’ Van der Kloot Meijburg told the AD.

Rotterdam joins Amsterdam in banning the traditional Piet from their official events. The blackface Piet was described as ‘a racist stereotype’ by the UN in 2015.

Van der Kloot Meijburg is not afraid the decision will fan the flames of controversy. ‘There has to be a dialogue between both camps. We are willing to organise such a dialogue,’ the paper quotes him as saying.