Skip to main content

Blog: King’s Day

Get ready to party!

Today we celebrate our King’s Birthday. For decennia the official ‘orange day’, formerly known as Queen’s Day, was held om April 30th. That wasn’t even the official birthday of our Queen Beatrix, but her mother’s. When the Crown was handed over from Queen Beatrix to her son Prince Willem-Alexander on the last Queen’s Day in 2013, the date for the official celebration and public holiday was changed to April 27, which is the official birthday of our King Willem-Alexander van Oranje.

A funny fact is that tourists continue to show up in Amsterdam and other big cities, all dressed in orange, on the old date, April 30th. So if you are planning your trip to The Netherlands around King’s Day, now you know the official date.

So what is the big thing about King’s Day?

First of all, it is an official public holiday for all the Dutch.

There aren’t that many official public holidays if you compare it to countries surrounding us. Germany approx. 12,  Belgium approx. 13.  The Dutch only have 9.  Making this day a welcome break in Springtime.


There is a variety of options to celebrate this day:

  • Meet the King and Queen
    King Willem Alexander, his wife Queen Maxima and their children visit a Dutch town where they meet local people. Every year this is another town and it is a BIG thing!
  • Party
    In the large cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Breda there are numerous events and festivals. If you want you can start the party on the night before and party for 24 hours.
  • Browsing local markets, flea markets.
    It is common to have a market where everybody can sell their stuff. Especially kids like this a lot; they clean up their room and sell their old toys, books and other items they no longer need. Some children also perform arts like singing, dancing or playing the violin for a Euro or so.
  • Enjoy the day
    Very often the weather is really nice and people spend the day in their own town. Every town has its own party program with activities for young and old.

Come and visit The Netherlands on this special day, you will not regret it!

Learn more about the origins of King’s Day

April 27th 2018

Share on: