30 escaped cows spooked by metal festival take midnight stroll on Eindhoven streets

Residents of several streets in Eindhoven Stratum district received an unexpected surprise last night. Around thirty cows escaped from their enclosure and meandered towards the city center, the Eindhovens Dagblad reported on Monday. The police had to intervene to stop their parade. The cows were probably spooked by music coming from a metal festival in the area.

Late into the night, Erik van Schenk Brill, a resident on Anjelier Street, was woken up by an unusual sound. “I really did not understand what was going on, so I stepped outside and suddenly I saw 30 cows in my backyard,” he told NL Times.

This unexpected turn of events occurred around 2:30 am. "For a moment I thought I was still dreaming," he said laughing.

The police went to the scene and cordoned off the area to ensure road safety. They managed to bring the cows into the parking lot of the Basic-Fit gym on Aalsterweg. The wandering cows traveled from a meadow near Genneper Parks, roughly a kilometer away.

Erik speculated on the cause, “It seems they were spooked by the music from the metal festival.” He referred to the Dynamo Metalfest held nearby at an ice-skating rink. “The music is very loud there,” he remarked.

“After a while I realized they were just fine in the parking lot so I went back to bed, but it took a while before I could go back to sleep because of the noise,” he added. The cattle's owner was alerted and retrieved the animals.

By daylight, Erik's photographs revealed the parking lot's new state, littered with cow dung. Reflecting on the event, he said, “It was a crazy night.”