It won’t be long before we will celebrate the new year en masse. And all that banging is something more and more people dread, for example because of a stressed pet. A growing number are therefore spending New Year’s Eve at a fireworks-free holiday park. “We are completely full and eighty percent of the guests have a pet,” says Marcel van Dijk from the Duc de Brabant holiday park.
As we walk through the park, we are greeted enthusiastically by a woman with five dogs. She celebrates every New Year at the park in Diessen. “They set off bombs here in The Hague,” says Karen Visman. “I can no longer get three of my dogs outside in the evening. The first night here he also anxiously wrapped his paw around the leash,” she points to one of the dogs. “But now they love it here. Just rest.”
And Karen is not alone. More and more pet owners are fleeing the explosions in the park. “We already booked a year ago,” says Ingrid Roozendaal from Heemskerk. “Last year our bulldogs were so stressed, I thought they were going to fly out through the window. That’s not a great New Year’s Eve for us either.”
“The demand is so great that we allow animals in all the houses.”
There are 148 bungalows in the park. Most of them are pet-free, but an exception has been made for New Year’s Eve. “The demand is so great that we allow animals in all houses,” Van Dijk explains. “Eighty percent of bookings are with pets. And then the cleaning afterwards will of course ensure that the next guests will not notice anything.”
The owner of the park notices that there are more and more fireworks-free parks. “Previously we were sometimes fully booked for New Year’s Eve a year in advance. Now the range is greater and bookings have trickled in a little more slowly. But we are still full.”
Do you hear any bangs at all in the park? “We have no control over the environment, so it could well be that a flare is set off at a remote farm,” says Van Dijk. “But it is quiet in the park.” Ingrid: “Yesterday I heard something in the distance, but that cannot be compared to what it is like at home.”
And Diana Dobbelaere from Breda is already noticing this. “They are much more relaxed here. One of my dogs always needs medication around this time, but he hasn’t had to use anything here yet.” And Ingrid’s bulldogs can also look forward to a quiet New Year’s Eve. “And we have already booked for next year.”