Queen's Night

Queen's Day (April 30th) is Holland's biggest holiday. It is not the birthday of the sitting monarch (Queen Beatrix), but that of her mother Queen Juliana. Lore has it that they celebrate Queen's Day on Queen Juliana's birthday because the weather tends to be better.

The festing begins on the eve of Queen's Day, with spirits, fireworks, all around. Our Dutch lessons were not cancelled, so that is where we went. On our way back, you could see orange-clad revelers in the trams. While we waited at the Museumplein tram stop, we spotted another celebrant singing, guitar in hand. You can hear him saying "konningendag," which means Queen's Day. Also in the background, you can hear them testing the sound system for the Queen's Day concert on the Museumplein.

As a Dutch friend explained, Queen's Day is the only day people can have a garage sale. People are allowed to set up a table on the sidewalk, no permit needed, and sell whatever. No one is allocated a space, you simply go out and claim your own. As early as the previous Friday, we saw spaces being carved out on the sidewalk with masking tape and chalk. Given the population density here, no one really has garages, driveways, or front yards that would support such a sale.

In addition, I had noticed our shopping street (the Beethovenstraat) festooned with yellow balloons. I thought it strange since orange is the national color, but didn't think too much about it. That night I learned that the city of Amsterdam had carved out color-coded routes for people to take so that they wouldn't get lost. The yellow route included Beethovenstraat.

Below you can see that someone named Ellen reserved this spot.