Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag)

Koninginnedag, or Queen’s Day, on 30 April (or celebrated on 29 April if the 30th is a Sunday) is a national holiday in the Netherlands. It started as a celebration of the Dutch monarchy.

The holiday is celebrated on this date because it was the birthday of Queen Juliana (1909-2004). When Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana on 30 April 1980, she decided to keep the holiday on 30 April,  as the weather on her own birthday, 31 January, tends to prohibit the traditional outdoor festivities.

Prior to 1949 the holiday was celebrated on 31 August, the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina.

On Queen's Day the monarch, Queen Beatrix, visits one or two towns where she is received with celebrations in her honour. These celebrations often involve traditional Dutch dances and demonstrations of old crafts.

The previous monarch, Queen Juliana, would greet people who came to the Soestdijk Palace. She and her family would stand on a dais and a long line of citizens would walk past, congratulating the Queen and presenting her gifts.

Orange fever

The colour orange is a common sight on Queen's Day, as it represents the House of Orange, the name of the current Dutch dynasty. In the spirit of the day, you'll find most people wearing something orange, while others are decked head to foot in orange. There are orange banners and flags, orange coloured foods and drinks. Even the water in some fountains is dyed orange.

The holiday is also a "free market" day where people set up stalls at the roadside to sell household goods they no longer need. In recent years, Queen's Day has become more and more of an open air street party, particularly in Amsterdam, which attracts anywhere from 500,000 to 2 million visitors.

KoninginneNach

Since Queen's Day is a national holiday and thus a day off, many people also go out and party on the evening before Queen's Day. This evening is called Queen's Night or Koninginnenach in Dutch. The “t” is left out because the habit of turning the eve of Koninginnedag into a special event with free open air concerts originated in The Hague, where nacht is pronounced as nach.

This tradition started in the early 1990s when pre-Koninginnedag riots were an increasing problem in The Hague. The idea of convincing the rioters that a celebration is a much better way to spend KoninginneNach proved successful. The event draws tens of thousands of visitors every year.

In 2011 The Hague's KoninginneNach festival was replaced by the Life I Live Festival.