Koningsdag (King’s Day) is national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Since 2014, it’s on 27th April. If 27th April is a Sunday, Koningsdag is celebrated on 26th April. It is birthday of our King Willem Alexander. His wife is Queen Maxima, she comes from Argentina. Before that, till 2013, we’d had Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day), was celebrated on 30th April, birthday of Queen Juliana (Mother of Queen Beatrix).
Why do we wear orange clothes on King’s Day? Orange is national color. It’s because of our King’s family name’s: Willem van Oranje in 16th century.
What do we do on King’s Day? We hang flag of our country and orange flags. People go to Amsterdam and it’s crowded there (now only keep distance or stay at home). There is vrijmarkt (free market/ flea market), we sell old things/used goods without paying tax, sit on the street, sell for a few euros. In 2020 and 2021, we sold online to keep distance. We have party and concert everywhere (now keep distace and wear mask). On 26th April, the night before 27th, there are many parties, we call it KONINGSNACHT. On 28th April, people go back to work.
What do we eat on King’s Day? We eat Oranje Tompouce.
Oranjegezind/Oranjegekte: Orange madness: we wear everything in orange, such as: hat, cap,T-shirt, dress, sunglasses, shoes, jacket, crown, tulip. Little kids make crown at kindergarten before 26th April.
Here is our video on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/jmKk7B-dhmk
