Koningsdag or King’s Day (27th April) in the Netherlands is such a boring day. Especially if you go to Amsterdam – then it’s particularly awful. I wouldn’t recommend you go, definitely not. You’ll have a rubbish time. Honest.
1. Everyone wears sensible, somber clothing. Mostly black or grey.
By DirkvdM (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5] via Wikimedia Commons
3. Especially not on the street. There is a high level of class and decorum at all times.
4. No fun is allowed. And especially no dancing!
5. And strictly no Dad Dancing.
6. The canals are really empty and boring too. Nothing going on there.
By Carmelrmd (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons
8. There’s nothing to do. You can’t get funny caricatures of yourself drawn on the street by Stan Heinze, Dutch caricaturist and comic artist.
8. Or throw wet sponges at your mates for shits and giggles.
9. You definitely can’t do that. I told you – no fun allowed.
10. There’s no messing around or being silly. Or you’ll get arrested by the fun police.
11. The parks are completely desolate on King’s Day. Especially Vondelpark. Completely empty.
12. There’s no one taking advantage of the vrijmarkt (free market) and selling their old tat.
13. Or asking you to pay 50 cents to look in a box.
14. And did I mention… NO DRINKING!
15. And under no circumstances can roads be closed or traffic stopped for revellers.
16. Later on in the evening, everyone is completely sober. No parties, no staying up late. Everyone just has an early night.
17. Completely, 100% sober. I told you, right?
18. It definitely doesn’t get blurry. And people definitely don’t crash their boats whilst drunk.
19. You see, King Willem-Alexander is a very sober man. Never had a drink in his life… and his nickname definitely wasn’t Prins Pils (Lager Prince) in his student days, before be became King.
By Erikt (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons
Hayley x
Hilarious! A very enjoyable account of a fun day. Looks like a must see or a must experience.
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It is fun, but unless you are already in Amsterdam, its probably not the best idea to actually go there. The entrances to the city are usually jammed around 9:00 in the morning, so many people do not get further than the train station. Also fun, but there are really good alternatives – like Leiden, for example.
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I’ve travelled into Amsterdam by train on King’s/Queen’s Day multiple times and never had any problems. I didn’t arrive at 9am though. Best to have a lie in and then go around lunchtime!
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Kings Day is fun in any city EXCEPT Amsterdam, unless you enjoy horrible crowds and hooligans. I have seen poor bystanders pushed into canals, and children nearly trampled. If you are male, 16–25, and a drunk you will love it. Otherwise, visit another city to celebrate, Roterdam is nice.
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Can definitely not agree on this one Karen. The city is HUGE!! There is fun stuff all around. You don’t have to hang around the drunk teenagers and even they are fun to be around. You had a bad experience (that’s a pity) but in general Amsterdam is THE place to be on Kingsday and I’m female and do not fit in your age limitation 😉
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This being said by someone who live in or bear Rotterdam says enough really..😂😂
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I am South African and my boyfriend is Dutch from beautiful Utrecht. I absolutely love your blog it’s so refreshing to real all the interesting Dutch from a on Dutch person.
Last year i experienced king’s day for the first time and I absolute loved it. There was so much orange everywhere and I really enjoyed watching everyone go crazy
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Reblogged this on Practice Here.
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Lang leve de Nederland!
(And long live American nerds who learn Dutch, aye? 😉 )
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soooo boring! don’t wanna go at all (giggle)
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La….lalalalalalala! Where is my orange dress, and hat, socks, glasses. My orange make-up. Still have to colour my hair. Hmmmm, orange is a nice haircolour. Ahhh so much to do! Boring? I’m stressed already…
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I saw the title for this and was like whaaaatttt? Everything I’ve heard is that it’s a great day! And then read it…looks like it’s great fun! So much orange!!!
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I’m moving to Leiden in August and posts like these are getting me really excited for it. I can’t wait! It sounds like I’ll need to buy some orange for my wardrobe.
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I don’t believe that second picture was taken anywhere near Koningsdag or Amsterdam whatsoever. 😉 Try the night before Koningsdag in Den Haag. Only lousy bands on stage, and no one watching.
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I actually don’t like Koningsdag. Amsterdam is waaay to overwhelmingly swamped with people. Give me koninginnenacht (or I guess it’s now koningsnacht) in Utrecht. Vrijmarkt at night lot’s of people lots of parties and then a nice and easy koningsdag following it, while most utrechters are sleeping off their hangovers 🙂 I’m looking forward to it already
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It’s so funny to read your blogs! I see myself and my country in a whole other way as you describe our habits. Things that are so normal for me, I have to laugh every time I read stuff like that on your blog. Thank you and please continue 🙂
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Great blog-post (as always)! I really enjoyed reading this and had a great laugh.
PS: hope you don’t mind I linked to your post in my newest post about King’s Day… I simply loved it & needed to share it
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Hi Lily, thanks and please share away! 🙂
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There is also no where to find old VHS videos for my VCR.
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I Saw A Drunk guy lying on the streets on kings day this year aka 2015
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I might have crashed the boat once or twice whilst drunk, but she’s still going strong! 😉
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Thank you for such hilarious description of the Kingsday. I shared the story with my friends in SF. I am Dutch.
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