Once a year in the Netherlands: Celebrate and sell what you can. The occasion: the king's birthday, King's Day.
You rarely see so much orange. At the end of April, people of all ages take to the streets with flower necklaces, caps, wigs and even toilet plungers as headdresses. All in the color of the Oranjes, of course. The atmosphere is already very lively in the afternoon. There are small stalls on many street corners where the Dutch more or less successfully sell their wares. Fun fact: Dutch people are not the same as Dutch people. Holland is just a part of the Netherlands. To be precise: Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland are two of a total of twelve provinces in the Dutch kingdom. Amsterdam, by the way, belongs to Noord-Holland.
As a tourist, you naturally wonder why so many people want to sell their stuff on this day of all days. It's simple: all proceeds on King's Day do not have to be taxed. This drives the creativity of many locals to unimagined heights. In addition to the classic flea market stalls, there are also many stalls with games. And they have one main victim: Donald Trump. The current US president gets his comeuppance here. At one stall, he is shot at (in can form), while at another his legacies are flattened with a wooden mallet.
But you can also try your luck in other games: Who can hold on to a wooden pole the longest with a pull-up? Who can shoot the most cans into the recycling container? Or another very popular game: "Who can catch me with a wet sponge?". The stall operator stands behind a wooden board and sticks his head through a hole. For two euros, you can try to hit him in the face with a dripping wet sponge. What you won't do for a few euros ...
However, the exuberant atmosphere mentioned could also have something to do with the alcohol consumption that is permitted on the streets on this day. The Dutch are not usually that relaxed: the consumption of alcohol in public is actually forbidden. Except on Koeningsdag, as the holiday is called here. Lessons have been learned from the experience of recent years and some changes have been made: Alcohol may not be drunk from glass bottles outside (risk of accidents) and serving may only begin at 11:30 am.
It began as a "princess day"
King's Day has been celebrated since 1889 and initially not on April 27. It began as "Princess's Day", which was introduced in honor of Princess Wilhelmina on 31 August. The Dutch wanted to kill two birds with one stone: get rid of the unpopular local harvest festival and, of course, do something good for the princess. When she ascended the throne in 1891, the holiday was renamed Queen's Day. With her successor, Queen Juliana, the birthday and thus the day of celebration also changed. Because it eventually became too complicated to adapt the holiday with each new head of state, Koenigsdag was simply always celebrated on April 27. There is an exception if the date falls on a Sunday. In this case, the celebrations are brought forward. After all, you don't want to mess with the church.
In Amsterdam, the street vendors have finished their business around 7 p.m. and joined the rest of the party-goers. The streets are lined with the young and the young at heart. It feels like not a single Amsterdammer is at home, everyone is dancing through the streets. Dancing makes you hungry, which some enterprising people take advantage of and set up a street food stall in no time at all. A different beat booms out of the speakers on every street corner, sometimes even making your stomach bounce to the beat with so much bass. But the organizers hit the right note with the exuberant party crowd.
Partying is by no means confined to the asphalt. Party boats are also booming and sail through the canals accompanied by more or less harmonious singing. The main thing is to be loud, the main thing is to have fun. Alcohol definitely lowers the inhibition threshold. The waterways, which run through the Dutch city like lifelines, have to serve as a backdrop for quite a few things. The garbage disposed of by some of the party people will have been the best part. A few drinks and the shaking of a boat have certainly taken their toll on some people.
When the streets empty out late at night, it doesn't mean that the party animals have staggered home. No, they've just changed location: Away from the streets of Amsterdam, into the clubs and bars of the capital. There the party goes on until five in the morning. Incidentally, not all tourists are so happy with the Dutch's favorite holiday. A young tourist from Albania, for example, said she would have preferred to be able to explore Amsterdam "in peace, without the crowds of drunk people". She will be back - but not at the end of April.
Sources:
https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/
https://www.holland.com/de/tourist/finde-deinen-weg/informationen/niederlande-oder-holland
https://www.amsterdamliebe.de/unsere-amsterdamtipps/koenigstag-in-amsterdam-kingsday-2025/
Conversations with Amsterdam residents on King's Day and the following day
Photo and video credits: Ingrid Müller
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