Familiepark Harry Malter

A small park designed for first adventures

Familiepark Harry Malter occupies 3.5 hectares of green grounds in Heusden near Ghent. There are no large roller coasters or monumental sets here: the park deliberately keeps an intimate, easy-to-read and reassuring scale, particularly well suited to toddlers and preschool children.

The atmosphere brings together outdoor play, animals, gentle rides and traces of a circus heritage. Paths move naturally from an aviary to a playground, a small carousel or a gnome house, giving the grounds the character of a family garden enriched across several decades.

Rides on a child’s scale

The large Speeltuin, partly covered, forms one of the park’s central spaces. It is joined by an indoor playground, a Jungle course, distorting mirrors and several rides made accessible from a young age: Zweefmolen, Piratenboot, Kleuterrad, Bootjes and the family drop tower Monkey Twist.

The Kabouterhuisjes bring the tone of an old storybook, while EDUFUN extends the animal encounters through workshops and commented feeding sessions. This variety is not about intensity; it creates a rhythm in which children can climb, laugh, observe and then move towards a nearby ride without leaving the same world.

Animal grounds shaped by history

The park grew in 1992 from Harry Malter’s circus life and the wish to give his animals a permanent home. The elephants that defined its early years have since given way to smaller species: macaws, lemurs, meerkats, monkeys, ibises, fallow deer, camels and farm animals now form a close-up trail.

A self-service restaurant, terraces and tree-lined paths complete that identity without changing it. Familiepark Harry Malter remains a human-scale park where circus memories, animal encounters and first mechanical sensations combine into one coherent experience rather than a sequence of major spectacles.