Holland | King’s Day: The Biggest Festival Of The Year

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King's Day

Join The Party!

Each year us Dutchies know how to celebrate our King’s birthday the right way. The whole of our little country is either colored bright orange, our national color, or red, white and blue, the colors of our national flag. Everywhere are festivals, parties, parades, markets and outdoor theaters. The whole nation gets drunk together and dances the day and night away.

King’s Day is celebrated the 27th of April, but starts the night before with King’s Night. Especially Amsterdam is a popular party destination and it’s recommended not to travel on the 27th itself, but rather a day or even a couple of days before if you want to avoid the stream of people trying to get into the city.

Mind you that up until 2014 we used to celebrate our Queen’s birthday on the 30th of April, and a lot of tourist information in other countries is still not updated on this. Funny to still see those tourists being 3 days late dressed in bright orange wondering where the party is:

King's Day

If you want to attend one of the major events and festivals it’s advised to buy your tickets early, a lot of events aren’t even aloud to sell tickets at the door. These are the best events to check out:

King’s Night Events Amsterdam:

King’s Day Festivals Amsterdam:

Other King’s Day Events:

  • Be aware that the whole city is one great party and you can buy booze just about anywhere. You’ll find loads of small house parties where they simply leave the door open, or streets where the neighbours have put a whole surround sound system in the windows.
  • If you’re good at making friends you can even get onto a random boat for a couple of hours. Try not to fall in the water though, it’s pretty dirty;)
  • There are a lot of “flea” markets, where people from 1-100 years old sit on carpets and try to sell… well, basically everything.
  • Amsterdam is not the only city that knows how to party, also worth visiting are Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen.

KLM gives a pretty good impression of the festivities, and even they know it: “Nothing compares to King’s Day in Amsterdam”! See you there!

 

Amy is a native Dutchie and grew up following her parents on their extensive travels around Europe, leaving almost no country untraveled on this side of the ocean. Coming from the quiet rural south of the country she now lives in Amsterdam, where she still discovers new places and people to connect with every day. She can't survive a day without laughter and good conversation, and is passionate about.. well.. everything! Her credo: focus on the journey, not the destination.