For two years, Romke Hoogwaerts developed the photobook and film of a story that takes place on the beaches of The Hague, Holland, where every New Year's Eve, two neighbourhoods build rivaling bonfires. After the Second World War, The Hague was a city of skirmishes every year over collections of discarded Christmas trees to burn on the night of the year's passing; often, the violence on the streets leading up to every New Year's Eve would get out of hand. With the blessing of the local authorities, the violence slowly evolved into a battle between Scheveningen and Duindorp, two coastal neighbourhoods separated by a harbour, to see who could build the biggest bonfire. These days, they are the biggest in the world. Hoogwaerts documents the construction crews, the towers of pallets and Christmas trees, the public watching from blankets and folding chairs, the brief glory of the lighting, and the morning after. The book and accompanying film together form a small ethnographic study of an annual civic ritual.