Koninginnedag is known for its nationwide vrijmarkt ("free market" or flea market), at which many Dutch sell their secondhand items. It is also an opportunity for "orange madness" or oranjegekte, for the national colour, when the normally straight-laced Dutch let down their hair, often dyed orange for the occasion. -- Wikipedia
This year I went to my first Queen's Day. I flu to Amsterdam on a Thursday (gladly Prince William got married on Friday so no need to waste a vacation day) and got there in time for dinner and then a techno show featuring Richie Hawtin & Marco Carola!
Next day there were some preparations for Queen's Day such as buying beer and lastly there was Queen's Night. Queen's night is like the warm up for next day. We had dinner at a friend's place, went out to a square where there was a stage with live music and lastly we hit some bars. The streets were crowded and a general good mood with most people dressing orange. In the end riding our bikes home was quite an adventure :)
Finally Saturday. We all put on our orange shirts, mine already had a few years but was the first time I wore it. We managed to go out around 14h which was rather late as festivities start in the morning. On Queen's Day the streets are full of stands selling all sorts of things, everybody is dressed orange and most people are drinking and carrying beers (we had backpacks full of them).
Every other square has a stage with music and people dancing. The atmosphere is fantastic!
People celebrate not only on the streets but also at home and in the canals.
And dress in all sorts of ways...
At 20h all stages close down (strangely early) but I suppose it's because there is a lot to clean...
For us the party continued indoors where he had music and some 80Lt of beer for 40 people! Surely an unforgettable day...
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