Walibi Holland (noodopvang, Biddinghuizen)
For four winters in a row the COA used the festival camping grounds at Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen (municipality of Dronten) as large-scale emergency accommodation for up to 1,250 asylum seekers, clearing the site each spring for events such as Lowlands and Defqon.1. Omroep Flevoland reported the reception generally ran without major problems. After the final winter season (October 2025 to March 2026) a new Dronten coalition of VVD, Leefbaar Dronten and CDA decided the winter reception would not return.
Occupancy
1,250
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€80
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€37m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Biddinghuizen, Dronten, Flevoland. It is run by the COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers), the Dutch government’s asylum-reception agency. For what the azc / noodopvang categories mean and how Dutch reception spending breaks down, open the cost panel on the interactive map with the Netherlands selected in Settings.
In the news
Apr 2024
Reception of over 800 refugees at Walibi runs without much trouble
Omroep Flevoland reported the winter emergency reception at Walibi passed largely without incident.
Omroep Flevoland · source
2026
Dronten ends large winter reception at Walibi grounds
The new municipal coalition decided the seasonal asylum reception at the Walibi site would not return in coming winters.
Looopings · source
Compiled from public Dutch news reports (each item links to its source). Where a municipality runs more than one reception location, attribution to this specific address reflects the cited report and may be approximate — always check the linked source.
Timeline
Oct 2025
Final winter season opens
The COA opened the Walibi grounds for up to 1,250 people, running until March 2026.
2026
Winter reception scrapped for future years
A new Dronten coalition (VVD, Leefbaar Dronten, CDA) ended the large winter reception at the Walibi site.
Cost
Dutch asylum reception is funded by central government through the COA. At an illustrative benchmark of about €80 per person per night for a regular centre, the 1250 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €37m per year. This is an order-of-magnitude figure for context only, not a site-specific invoice — emergency reception typically runs around three times the cost of a regular centre.
Sources
Omroep Flevoland · 2023-2025. View source
Occupancy is the COA register snapshot of 13 August 2025 and may have changed since. Coordinates were geocoded from the published street address via the official PDOK Locatieserver.