The Queen always visits two towns or cities on Queen's Birthday, together with her family, her sister Margaret and her sister's family.The flag together with the orange pennant is only hoisted on birthdays of members of the House of Orange.
Koninginnedag or Queen's Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba on 30 April or on 29 April if the 30th is a Sunday. Queen's Day celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands and is supposed to be a day of national unity and "togetherness". The tradition started on 31 August 1885 on the birthday of Princess Wilhelmina, later Queen Wilhelmina. Since 1949, after the ascension of Queen Juliana, Queen's Day is Queen Juliana's birthday on 30 April. Although Queen Beatrix's birthday is on 31 January, she officially celebrates her birthday on 30 April, because 31 January is far too cold for open air activities.
Queen's Day is known for its "freemarket" all over the country, where everybody is allowed to sell things in the streets. Other activities during Queen's Day are children's games, individual musical performances, and concerts. The night before Queen's Day is celebrated too in some cities, and this is called Queen's Night. The largest celebration of Queen's Day is in Amsterdam and of Queen's Night in The Hague. During the celebrations as reference to the colours of the House of Orange-Nassau, some people dress in Orange clothes, or paint their hair orange. Not me!! You will find more if you click on Queen's Birthday
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33 comments:
I did not know any of this, so I am glad that you posted this Wil. I have a fascination with the British Royalty, but still do not not know all that much.
I don't know why this post would not come up when I clicked on it last week, but it did finally this time.
Have a great day Wil!
Alwasy like to learn here. How nice that Queen Beatrix puts off her birthday for the comfort of her people. Hope you have a great celebration.
I have lots of questiond but I will try google first.
Thanks for all the interesting information about the Queen's Birthday. I knew that Britain's Queen Elizabeth celebrates her birthday on a day different from her actual date of birth. It's nice the Queen Beatrix does the same for the sake of the outdoor activities.
what a beautiful queen and so enjoyed your post.
have a lovely day ^..^
The "Freemarket" sounds like nice way to celebrate a national holiday - and very Dutch :-)
I don't like all those military parades many countries use on such occasions.
Very interesting.I did not know that.I love to read the history of other countries.Thanks for posting that.
Koninginnedag is a day I miss here! There is a special atmosphere on that day, that is not there on any other day. I have good childhood memories doing games, etc. on this day. Een fijne Koninginnedag toegewenst!
Une journée très sympathique, en somme ...Les Français étant républicains, la royauté leur paraît lointaine et étrange ...
Mon fils part en voyage aux Pays Bas jeudi prochain !
Yay! I remember my first Queen's Day there, I was dood moe. I spent it all day at Beethoven Straat and have been buying things at very cheap cheap prices. I even still have them up to these days. I also saw the Queen one day at Albert Cuyp Maarkt. Dunno what the occasion was but I was pretty sure it wasn't Koningenen Dag.
This seems a very happy holiday forthe whole Dutch "family".
I was most interested to read about it.
Come on Wil, just think what a fun blog photo that would be--you with orange hair for the Queen's Birthday!
Happy holiday to you all.
What a nice time. I hope she enjoyed herself.
Lovely enjoyment. That is nice of her.
Thnaks sharing.
Mary Elizabeth @ Now and Then
A delightful post, as always, Wil! Love the photo reading about the day, very interesting! Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
This is so strange I have an old tale of yesteryear's Royalty. It makes a change from reading about British Royalty.
Happy Birthday to the Queen!
Wil....I am doing a Birthday post tomorrow to the Queen of the Literary World!
Carol
Fantastic post, my wife is obsessed with everything about British royalty, she thanks you for this post as well.
Have a great week.
Guy
Regina In Pictures
Wil: Nicely timed to be there for the celebration.
Life is good when you are the queen (or king), ... but also lots of commitments.
This was totally new and very interesting too.
Sounds like you will be busy but having lots of fun!
mine is here
http://aguthrieimages.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/thats-my-world-ruby-tuesday/
In his novel DOUBLE STAR, Robert Heinlein, an American writer of science-fiction, wrote of a distant future in which a member of the House of Orange was titular ruler of Earth and its far-flung colonies on other planets.
Happy Birthday to your queen!
Interesting info on this celebration Wil - Beatrix is a beautiful Queen.
I know so little about the Netherlands. Thanks for the lesson. And I still just LOVE that little dog in the banner.
Herkenbare beelden hoor, de orange gekte slaat weer toe ;-)
Hopelijk zit het weer voor jullie ook mee dan. Hier in België zul je zo'n taferelen niet te zien krijgen maar ja is hier een landje dat nooit zou mogen bestaan hebben.
Groetjes
Very enjoyable your world celebrating the queens birthday. Our queen is born in April but her b'day is always celebrated in June. Many people here in Australia are republicans like myself.
Thanks for all the info! Nice to read the birthday is a celebration for all, and not only for the "upper class society"!
Holland still has a queen? Well, happy Queen's Day.
Queens Day sounds like a wonderful holliday, Wil. Togetherness and a freemarket are great ways to celebrate it too! Have a wonderful day...
An interesting post it is always nice to learn something. Hope you had a nice day.
Happy Birthday to your queen. This was a bit fascinating and interesting to me.
I wonder how the tradition of anyone being able to sell things in the street came about. Fascinating.
My favorite thing in the photo is the orange balloon. :-)
The freemarket sounds awesome, I didn't know about that. It's a great tradition, I think, and so different from all those parades :)
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