Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, celebrated on 30 April. Koninginnedag is Queen Beatrix’s official birthday. Though Queen Beatrix was born on 31 January, the holiday is observed on 30 April as it was the birthday of her mother and predecessor, Juliana.

The first time Koninginnedag took place, it was celebrated on 31 August 1885 as Prinsessedag or Princess’s Day, the fifth birthday of Princess Wilhelmina, heiress to the Dutch throne. On her accession, the holiday acquired its present name, Koninginnedag. Following the accession of Wilhelmina’s daughter Queen Juliana in 1948, the holiday was moved to her birthday. Her daughter, Beatrix retained the celebration on 30 April after she took the throne in 1980. Koninginnedag is known for its nationwide vrijmarkt (“free market” or flea market), at which many Dutch sell their secondhand items. Those taking part in Koninginnedag commonly wear orange clothing in honour of the House of Orange-Nassau, which rules over the Netherlands, causing “orange madness” or oranjegekte, for the national colour; everyone becomes patriotic.
Koninginnedag is the one day of the year that the Dutch government permits sales on the street without a permit and without the payment ofvalue added tax. Koninginnedag now sees large-scale celebrations, with many concerts and special events in public spaces, particularly in Amsterdam. The Vondelpark is reserved for children and their activities. The city centre is closed to cars, and no trams ride in the heart of the city; people are urged to avoid Amsterdam Centraal railway station and use other stations if possible from their direction. International trains that normally begin or terminate at Amsterdam Centraal are instead directed to a suburban stop.
Koninginnedag is for me the best party of the year! Have you ever heard of it? Are you in The Netherlands these days? What are your plans? P.S.: I was looking for my own old QDay pics, can’t find them. I’ll make new ones this year,ok?
(With a bit of help from Wikipedia.)
Thank you for sharing the history and images of such a great day!
From Ecuador,
Z
I found a blogger who did post his last year’s pictures, check out his post; http://ithinkthereforeiamsterdam.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/its-that-time-of-year-again
Hey thanks for linking to our blog (just one thing though… it was the female half of ithinkthereforeiamsterdam who created that post. Just so you know 😉
Soooo sorry Ms IthinktereforIamsterdam! Like your blog a lot!
Ha! Really? I thought all sensible Amsterdammers got the h*ll outta here on Queen’s Day. 😀
By the way: http://checkwest.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/neighbourfood-market-2/
Who says I’m sensible? Saw your post just before you sent me the link! Hope you enjoyed it too!
Hee! Nah you’re right. I’ll probably pop into the Jordaan for a bit in the morning.
I did!
For me Queensday & queensnight are absolutely the best parties of the year. And the party next to the Homomonument on Liberation day. I’m still in the partymood, that’s why I don’t push any (double :p) strollers (is that the word?) yet. I actually did not party for a month and a half, tension is building up… 🙂
I love the Netherlands! I breed and ride Dutch horses. Best in the world! Wish I was there for the party!
I was once in Mastricht for a catholic / carnival festival. It was a very long time ago but it was excellent fun. Lots of fancy dress, processions and friendly drinking in the bars. The only problem is we ran out of money, missed the last train home and had to wander some very cold streets until the morning. But it was great fun and I always enjoy visiting Holland.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Thx for the nice comments about our blog housing in the Netherlands.