Les professionnels de GBNews.ch s'allient à la puissance des technologies en intelligence artificielle générative, pour informer la communauté des affaires et le grand public, des dernières tendances et des évolutions du marché de l'emploi.
For 128 years, the Netherlands celebrated Queen’s Day each year. This week, however, the 3rd official King’s Day (Koningsdag) in the Netherlands celebrated King Willem-Alexander’s official birthday on April 27th with parties, street markets, concerts and special events in honor of the royal family.
This festive day was previously known as Queen’s Day and is renowned for being one of the biggest and most exciting festivities in the Netherlands, and even more so in Amsterdam. It is a giant street party that the Dutchies enjoy. Locals and visitors are invited to soak up Amsterdam’s open-air fun. Over a million people are in the city to celebrate this day.
Throughout the streets, parks and canals, and everywhere in between, the city is bursting with orange. Street carnivals, dancing and singing on boats in the canals, combines with the open air free market, which features a huge open sale of all kinds of small objects. Fun is the most important here, and regulars do not expect to buy anything of value. The tradition is to negotiate the price, but it happens, especially when children are trading, that buyer raises the price to show the playful nature of this game.
Amsterdam celebrated King’s Day (Koningsdag) for the first time in 2014, after the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander on April 30th 2013 (what was then still Queen’s Day). The royal celebrations were first held on August 31st 1885 in honor of the birth of Queen Wilhelmina, and the Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag) tradition was born. After Wilhelmina’s daughter (Juliana) succeeded to the throne in 1949, the day was changed to April 30th, the new Queen's birthday.
Princess Beatrix followed, but when she became queen, she chose to retain the day in honor of her mother –even though her birthday is actually January 31st. Queen Beatrix also began the tradition of visiting one or two towns in the Netherlands as part of the celebrations. In 2016, they will visit Zwolle, in the province Overijssel.
The name may have changed slightly, but the festive spirit of the day is sure to remain. Visitors are treated to a sea of orange, as everyone is covered head to toe in the color as a show of pride for the Dutch Royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. Most importantly, everyone is out to simply have a good time.
Sources:
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/whats-on/kings-day/all-about-kings-day-in-amsterdam
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/netherlands/king-birthday
Photo credit: By Carmelrmd (Own work) , via Wikimedia Commons
Thanks for the zesty article!
As I was reading it, I couldn't help but think of Royal families ...including in the UK. As you may know, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not there is too much money involved in the Queen and her family's activities.
Is the same debate going on regarding the Dutch Royal family?