Bobbejaan Schoepen - Bobbejaanland (cabaret Period)

Bobbejaanland (cabaret Period)

It was never Schoepen’s intention to build an amusement park; the current park arose from his musical career. After nearly fifteen years of constant touring he began thinking about a place to settle down. In 1959 he bought a 30 hectare, marshy domain in Lichtaart-Kasterlee, called the Abroek. There he built a theatre with nearly 1000 seats and created a 2.2 kilometer beach. This was to become Bobbejaanland, a name coined by his manager, Jacques Kluger. On 31 December 1961, Bobbejaanland was officially opened by Bobbejaan Schoepen and his wife Josée, with whom he developed the park into his life’s work. During the high season, Schoepen himself performed from two to five concerts per day. Artists from the Belgian, Dutch, and German cabaret-world performed there as well, though not during Schoepen’s own program.