Every year on April 27, starting in 2014, the Netherlands celebrates one of the main holidays of the state — King's Day.
The tradition of this holiday dates back to 1885, when the Liberal Party decided to set National Unity Day on August 31, immediately celebrating Princess Day — as Princess Wilhelmina's birthday. When the princess became queen, the holiday was renamed Queen's Day. In 1949, when Queen Juliana ascended the throne, the holiday date shifted to April 30, her —th birthday. Juliana's daughter Queen Beatrix decided not to change the date of April 30 in memory of her mother.
But in 2013, Queen Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, January 31, 1938) officially abdicated the throne in favor of her eldest son Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange. Since 2014, instead of Queen's Day, the Netherlands has established a new holiday, — King's Day. Moreover, the first King's Day was held on April 26, 2014, and in subsequent years the annual celebration of the royal day was set for April 27 — exactly on Willem-Alexander's birthday.
King's Day, as before Queen's Day, — is truly a national holiday in the Netherlands, which literally all residents of the country love and expect. This is a national holiday, and each resident has an orange outfit — in the color of the royal house of Orange-Nassau. The ribbons, garlands, balls and flags that decorate the streets are also entirely orange. Inflatable crowns, which are, of course, orange in color, are in particular demand. National flags fly everywhere, portraits of the reigning person are hung.
Each resident has an orange — outfit in the color of the Royal House of Orange-Nassau (Photo: Sandra van der Steen, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
The holiday begins the night before with the «royal night». It is best to be in The Hague this night, where the royal palace is located. The Great Music Festival takes place there, which begins at half past seven in the evening and continues until the morning.
The entire city center is filled with mobile attractions, slot machines, carousels, and stages. On each corner there are kiosks selling lightly salted herring —, the Dutch favorite national dish. The main difference between «royal night» is the abundance of loud, cheerful music.
Lush celebrations are held throughout the country, and first of all, of course, in the capital of the Netherlands — Amsterdam. The capital of the Netherlands has fun all day long. The streets and squares are crowded, and so are the attractions. In the evening the sky is colored with fireworks.
From 9 am traffic stops in the city center. All of Amsterdam participates in the carnival. All kinds of concerts and folk balls are open to everyone. Festive atmosphere, limitless fun, especially in Vondelpark.
The funniest place is — Dam Square in front of the royal palace. There, — young people in breathtaking outfits and old people in traditional clothes sing and dance all day long. Everyone is treated to the national delicacy — herring for free. The police are prohibited from interfering in what is happening, so the celebration knows no bounds, and in the evening groups of people wander around tipsy, and trams cannot pass through the crowd. Of the vehicles, only barges filled to capacity remain.
Just in time for the holiday, tulips are blooming in the Netherlands... (Photo: Yulia Shilova, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
One of the main spectacles is the Flower Parade. Flowers are loved in the Netherlands. They are grown in tiny pots and in huge fields. Just in time for the holiday, tulips are blooming in the Netherlands. Velvet, with terry edges, elongated like narrow champagne wine glasses or, conversely, huge and burdocky, like poppies...
For a whole year, the Dutch grow flowers for giant flower figures who participate in the flower parade. With great enthusiasm, the parade participants prepare costumes and select music. Everything should be ready by the end of April. The road from the city of Aalsmeer, where the parade begins, to Amsterdam is dotted with people. Everyone has bouquets, wreaths, garlands and even pots of flowers in their hands.
The first April parade took place when subjects congratulated Queen Juliana on her coronation day. Since then, 10 thousand people and 100 million flowers have taken part in the preparation of the holiday, which has become an annual event. After the holiday, flower parades are held throughout the country for another whole week in early May. Also on this day, costume fairs and «free bazaars» are held in the Netherlands, where anyone can come and sell their goods.