When is King's Day in the Netherlands?
This is a national holiday that was declared in 2014 to maintain the tradition of a holiday to celebrate the monarch of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
It is celebrated annually in the Netherlands on April 27th, unless it falls on a Sunday, in which case Saturday April 26th will be the observed holiday.
History of King's Day in the Netherlands
The day officially commemorates the birthday of Willem Alexander who became King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Queen Beatrix on April 30th 2013.
Willem Alexander was born in Utrecht on April 27th 1967.
The tradition of a holiday to honour the current monarch began in 1890 as an attempt to try and unify the Netherlands through a national holiday. The first "Prinsessedag" or Princess’ Day celebrated the birthday of the four-year-old, at the time, Princess Wilhelmina on August 31st.
From 1949, the day celebrated of the birthday of Wilhelmina's daughter, Queen Juliana, on April 30th.
The tradition of changing the holiday to match the birthday of the reigning monarch took a break when Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana in 1980. Beatrix decided to keep that the Queen's Day on April 30th as a tribute to her mother. Additionally, her own birthday is at the end of January 31st, so celebrating it outdoors would have been difficult.
With Willem Alexander's ascension to the throne in 2014, his birthday was close enough to the old date to make the switch happen without causing any issues.
How is King's Birthday Celebrated?
Traditionally, on this day the King visits one of the cities in the country and meets some of those who have come out to celebrate his birthday. This visit is broadcast on television.
The night before is a time for parties, either in the streets or in clubs.
On King's day, many people will celebrate by dressing in orange clothes (the royal family are the House of Orange), painting faces and hair orange and wearing mock orange crowns.
A representation of the Dutch royal family, oranjegekte (“orange madness”) is the theme of the day and apart from clothing, the national color can be seen everywhere, even on the icing on the tompouce (a cream-filled pastry). Even the drinks are orange, as many toast to the King with an Orange Bitter.
A popular pastime on King's Day is going to a flea market. King’s Day is the only day of the year when the Dutch government allows street selling without a permit and without the payment of value-added tax, so most cities and town will host large flea markets (vrijmarkt) with people having saved up their used or unwanted goods to sell.
As this is an official public holiday, banks, post offices, and many businesses will be closed. Some stores are open as usual, but trading hours may be changed. Public transport usually runs to a normal or special timetable and there may even be extra train services to help people get home from large celebrations in the cities.
Fijne Koningsdag!
