The largest play castle in the Netherlands has opened in BillyBird Park Drakenrijk

After months of hard work, the time has finally come. Today, Sunday April 30, 2023, the Play Castle was festively opened. From now on, the Play Castle can be visited every day from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM in BillyBird Park Drakenrijk in Beesel.

Opening of play castle
The Play Castle was officially opened on Sunday, April 30, 2023. Hundreds of guests were received by a troubadour at the entrance. During the opening, a special Medieval act was performed by the Draakteken Foundation. Invited guests could admire how a rider on horseback handed over a torch to the mayor of the municipality of Beesel, Bob Vostermans. This allowed a cannon to be fired and the castle to be opened.

The Play Castle is fifteen meters high and is guarded by a life-size dragon that sits on top of the tower. The dragon is handmade by Venlo artist Joop van den Heuvel. The rest of the castle was designed and developed by AmusementProf, Paul and Herman Derks' own design and construction company. The castle contains several slides and rooms and even a spectacular slide that goes down 12 meters. Light, smoke and music from EVRST MUSIC complete the fully themed playing area.

Visitors can reach the Play Castle via various routes. A bridge has been placed at the BeachBar, allowing guests to easily walk via the entrance to Riddersheide, the play area. A dune landscape has been created between the Play Castle and the Dragon Forest, through which visitors can reach the swimming lake and the playground via a meandering path.

Ideals: "For each other, with each other"
Dragon Kingdom was created in accordance with the ideals of the founders. The mascot BillyBird, a dressed up sand martin, emerged from the first logo. Namely a sand martin in combination with a windsurfer. This represents the idea that nature and recreation can go together. At Drakenrijk, BillyBird also strives for the combination of nature and recreation. Not only recreation but also nature is developing rapidly.

Even more important, the recreation entrepreneur behind BillyBird, Ton Derks, believes that a park is a means for its guests to “Happy Together!” to be. The playground equipment is therefore designed as much as possible to have fun together. This, according to Ton, is the right of a park to exist. He continues: “We believe that companies only have a right to exist if they are useful to society. A company is simply an efficient means of organizing something for society. But a company is also part of the community. That is why BillyBird asked the Dragon Stitches Foundation for permission to use the dragon theme in 2002. After all, this theme belongs to the Beesel community. Dragon drawing, an open-air game, has been performed in Beesel for about 300 years. Luckily we got permission. In fact, people had ideas at the time to approach recreational parks. They wanted to do this to keep the story of St George and the dragon in the spotlight. And then a recreation entrepreneur himself came to Beesel. If coincidence exists, …”

Derks continues: “We believe in human relationships. As a company we also want a bond with our guests. Fortunately, our visitors want that too and become members. No one is cheaper than these “regulars”. We also want a long-term relationship with our suppliers. We want people and companies around us that we can trust. If companies work well at a reasonable price, we can be customers there for years. For example, the basis of Drakenrijk was created by Beesel companies. The gardener, the electrician, the plumber, they all come from Beesel. Most other suppliers come from the region. And of course I think it's great that our sons Paul and Herman's company, AmusementProf, designed and helped build the Play Castle.”
And then Ton Derks elaborates even further on the importance of trust: “In 2002 I met councilor Jan Smolenaars. I told him about our ideas. Of course, many fantasists come to an alderman. Who not only wants to do what he says, but can also carry it out and stick with it? After all, procedures had to be completed for years. Fortunately, the municipality and the province gave us their confidence. In 2013, Drakenrijk opened as a small recreational lake. The foundation for a recreational park has now been laid. And we would like to expand this further. However, we cannot do this alone. We desperately need the governments and suppliers for this. And of course our guests must want to keep coming. Perhaps our own employees come first. They are the familiar face of BillyBird and they would like to receive our guests in a friendly manner. So we are all dependent on each other and each other's happiness.

The question I occasionally ask myself is “do we have to lay down everything in laws and regulations?” and “why can't we just trust each other?” This applies between people, but also between the government and citizens. And of course we must be worthy of each other's trust. That works much easier than with rules. Why should a beaver not be allowed to live in the “recreation” designation, or why should a playground equipment not be allowed to be located in the “forest” designation?”

Finally, sand extractor Niba, all companies and people who worked and work for Drakenrijk and the local and provincial government were thanked for the trust that people have continuously shown in BillyBird, despite the rules.