Video shows how rats let off steam near the Tomorrowland campsite: ‘If you don’t want to suffer a plague, you have to act now’ | Abroad

Will the great Belgian dance festival Tomorrowland soon have a rat problem in its campsite? A film about dozens of rats hanging out in a chicken coop, about 100 meters from the Dreamville campsite, has already caused some concern. The organization of the festival is aware, but remains calm.

They are images that make many shudder: dozens of rats walking around a chicken coop, looking for food and shelter. At first glance they appear to be closed, on a private plot. But what is the probability that the animals will eventually leave their nest and enter the public domain? Knowing that within ten days thousands of festival goers will set up their tents in the area sounds like a terrifying scenario.

Public health

“It’s exactly what prompted me to make the film,” says Danny Van Rompaey (51). “As a former paramedic and firefighter, I am very committed to public health. If you then see more than fifty rats walking around in the daylight, which are not shy around people at all, then my alarm goes off. I think the problem is bigger than the private garden where they are now. If Tomorrowland doesn’t want to deal with a rat infestation in their camp, they must take action as soon as possible. A rat can be a carrier of various diseases. I don’t have to draw a picture, right?”


As far as we know, the rats are on private property and we cannot act. We will approach the owner first to fix the problem before installing the rat poison ourselves.

Mayor Jurgen Callaerts (N-VA)

The organization of the festival sees no reason to panic at the moment: “This is a problem that has existed for several years,” said spokeswoman Debby Wilmsen. “We keep an eye on it, but we know from experience that rats don’t come to the camp. The first Dreamville stores are 150 meters from the plot where the rats are found. In addition, during the festive season there is a lot of movement of people and machines that scares the animals. So the rats prefer to stay where they are now. They also have enough food there.”

rat poison

Mayor Jurgen Callaerts (N-VA) was not yet aware of a rat problem in the area, but he is not entirely surprised either. “You are in an agricultural area, with open streams and a chicken coop. Of course, this is the ideal cocktail for rats. But to the best of our knowledge, the rats are currently on private property and we are unable to act. We can’t do that until the rats spread into the public domain. So we first urge the owner to fix the problem before we start installing the rat poison ourselves.”

Boom Township is informed that rat poison tubes have already been installed to contain the problem. People will be on site today to see if further action is necessary.

Gabrielle Rhodes

"Friendly travel trailblazer. Certified gamer. Evil bacon practitioner. Analyst. Problem solver."

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