King’s Day is the biggest national event in Holland.
Everything and everyone turns orange and celebrates on King’s Day. You will find music shows, fairs, flea markets and parties throughout the country. Even the Dutch royal family goes on tour to be received by one or more Dutch towns for en entertainment-filled day. Amsterdam is transformed into the nation’s biggest orange party town. The Hague has Koningsnach or King’s Night with dozens of music performances in the city centre, and Utrecht boasts the biggest flea market in Holland. So mark 27 April in your agenda since we are sure you wouldn’t want to miss out on the biggest Orange fest of the year.
Background
The monarch’s birthday has been a festive celebration in the Netherlands for many years. Queen’s Day was celebrated in 1890 after princess Wilhelmina became queen following the death of her father. Queen Juliana, Wilhelmina’s daughter, was crowned in 1948 and from 1949, the Queen’s Day celebrations honored her birthday on April 30. Queen Juliana’s daughter Beatrix became queen on April 30, 1980. Her birthday is on January 31, but Queen’s Day remained on April 30 – coinciding with Queen Beatrix’s own coronation day and her mother’s birthday.
In 2013 it was announced that as of 2014, Queen’s Day in the Netherlands would become King’s Day, to be celebrated on April 27 rather than on April 30. This announcement followed the queen’s abdication from the throne in favor of her eldest son Willem Alexander, whose birthday is on April 27.
Symbols
The national flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolor flag with red at the top, white in the middle and blue at the bottom. On some feast days, an orange strip of cloth, known as a wimpel, is hung above the national flag. This is a symbol for the Dutch royal family, which uses the name “House of Orange-Nassau”. The national flag and the colors red, white, blue and orange are widely displayed on King’s Day. Many people make a special effort to wear an orange item of clothing, to dye their hair orange or to color their faces orange. Accessories that combine the color orange with some symbol of the royal family, such as a crown or a lion, are especially popular.
http://www.holland.com/us/tourism/interests/kings-day-us.htm
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/netherlands/king-birthday