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Contents 1 Origin: from marsh to amusement park 2 Attractions 3 Remarkable changes 4 External links 5 Sources

Bobbejaanland is an amusement park in Lichtaart, Belgium. It was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish Singer and fantasist who enjoyed international popularity in the fifties and early sixties. In 1959 Schoepen got weary of touring and decided to build a venue where he could perform as often as he liked. In 1961, the Bobbejaanland amusement park was born. His personal manager Jacques Kluger invented the name. This lifework grew organically from his musical career: the heart of the young park was a combination of waterfun and show. Numerous artists from the Belgian, Dutch and German variety scene performed over there.

Following the advice of Phantasialand-owner Gottlieb Löffelhard, Bobbejaanland evolved from 1975 onwards in the direction of a regular amusement park, with the aspect of show gradually retreating to the background. Encompassing fifty attractions and four hundred employees, the park developed into a huge tourist draw in the Benelux, France and Germany. Thanks to its independence as a family concern, it was also able to bridge the gap with (more audacious) educational and cultural projects. By the end of the seventies, for example, Bob's wife Josee (a formal opera singer and model) opened a museum with authentic works of art from the Hopi and Navajo cultures in Phoenix, Arizona, now one of the most complete private collections of Indian art in Europe.

The life of Bobbejaan is also a lucky bag of colourful anecdotes. Once, he managed to buy the original Zorro's horse from guntumbler Casey Tibbs, but unfortunately the animal tread on an exposed cable and passed away. From his American friend Nudie Cohn, he acquired the peculiar white arty Pontiac (Nudie Mobiles), skilfully decorated with American coins. He spent ten thousand dollar for it, but looking back he would consider the car as the most effective and talked-about element of all the attractions he featured.

From the beginning of the nineties, three of his five children participated full time in the park. Bobbejaanland was fine tuned, down to the smallest detail. Now it can foster its reputation of a place that loves children and it can present itself as the first amusement park in the world that has focussed on environmental policy. The most remarkable measure to that effect was the construction of a 70 meter high windmill. that provides the whole region with energy, with an adjoining museum of alternative energy. With its mix of informative fun, Bobbejaanland can rank as the maverick among European amusement parks. Not in the least, it stands out because of its totally unique identity, which is a natural consequence of the total dedication of the founding father and his family to this life work.

Bobbejaanland contains about 50 attractions, such as the Indiana River (indoor waterslide, 1991), the Revolution (a dark Rollercoaster, 1989), the Speedy Bob (roller coaster), the Air Race (suspended roller coaster, 1987, now named Dreamcatcher), the longest junior roller coaster in the world, 'Okidoki' (='that's all right', 2003/04) and in the same year the world's second Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster, "Typhoon", with a drop angle of over 97° (The first was Vild-Svinet at Bonbon-Land). In 'Kinderland' (=Kids' Country, 1995) you'll find attractions for the smallest visitors. Because Bobbejaan Schoepen is mainly a folk and country singer, the park is partly themed as a western village (for example the El Rio White Water Rapids and the El Paso Dark Ride). In the Star Theater, Las Vegas style shows are performed. The giant Sledgehammer (a Giant Frisbee) is a massive construction of steel, dominating the park.

Recently Bobbejaan Schoepen suffered from intestinal cancer, which gave rise to the idea to part with his life's work Bobbejaanland. Apparently there was no stopping him: in the winter of 2003, a major investement of 12 milion dollar was made for a couple of world premières: the Typhoon (a roller coaster with a fourfold loop and a free fall) and the Sledge Hammer (a giant shuttle that reaches topspeeds of 110 km/h).

In 2003, the consumer’s organisation Test-Aankoop conducts a large-scale comparative survey of 13 european amusement parks. On a european level, Bobbejaanland came off second best after Phantasialand for as good as every aspect under scrutiny, together with Disneyland and the Parc Astérix. For Belgium, Bobbejaanland is considered to be the best. (Test-Aankoop magazine 477, June 2004). But April 2004 the final decision to sell the park was taken, after a preparatory period of more than three years. Bobbejaanland was sold to the Spanish Parque Reunidos group. With this decision, the last family concern in the sector of amusement parks in Belgium disappeared.

In january 2007 the spanish group sold the park to an american investor/company

During the 43 years of the Schoepen-management, we can consider the founding father to be the artistic brain behind the park. His wife José (who is the oldest of sixteen children) was the commercial backbone, and her sister Louise set up a solid foundation with regard to accounting and finances. The key to succes was the mutual trust in this triumvirate and their powerful work ethic.

Bobbejaan Schoepen and his wife still live on the domain. In 2005 he gave four surprise performances on the literary festival Saint Amour. Currently he is working on a new CD release.

• Bobbejaanland Website (English)
• Official site Bobbejaan Schoepen
• The Yodeling Whistler
• Bobbejaanland Timeline
• Bobbejaanland Fansite (Dutch)
• Bobbejaan-Online (Dutch)

• Bobbejaan Schoepen (Johan Roggen, Publisher Het Volk, 1980 - D/1980/2345/10).
• De Vlaamse kleinkunstbeweging na de Tweede Wereldoorlog - Een historisch overzicht (Peter Notte, Universiteit Gent 1992). 'The Flemish Variety Movement after World War II - An Historical Overview'. Peter Notte, University Ghent, 1992)
• Bobbejaan Schoepen — "Histories" documentary, 4 January 2001 (Canvas/VRT)
• Bobbejaan Schoepen — The Belgian Pop & Rock Archive (Dirk Houbrechts and the Flanders Music Center, 2001).
• "Brel Le flamand" — Histories documentary, 2003 (Canvas/VRT).
• Bobbejaan Schoepen Archive — Bobbejaan Records bvba
• Official Biography Bobbejaan Schoepen — by Tom Schoepen - "Volkskundige Kroniek" van de Federatie voor Volkskunde in Vlaanderen (i.e. “Folklife Chronicles”, magazine of the Folklife Federation Flanders)- yr. 14 - nr. 2 April-may-juin 2006).