Queens Day Amsterdam on a Discount


photo by pr1001

Forget the Rijks Museum or the Van Gogh museum, you’ve probably already seen them and although they are certainly worth a visit if you haven’t, the event of the year in Amsterdam is coming up on the 30th April. The tradition started in 1949 when Queen Juliana became Queen of the Netherlands but the event is still held on this day every year possibly because the birthday of the current Queen Beatrice falls in January when it is considerably colder!


The Dutch celebrate Queens Day in orange so be sure to bring the brightest orange clothes and accessories you can buy or find at the back of your wardrobe! You will need to look for cheap travel discounts now, as it’s a very popular event.

The festivities start the previous evening (Tuesday 29th April) with rock concerts in Dam Square and Museumplein. All over the city there will be street parties going through the night with bands and musicians of all kinds along the streets with areas set aside for dancing and stands set up for food and the famous Heineken lager or wine. It’s truly a fantastic atmosphere with everyone walking or cycling, most roads are traffic free for the event. At night there are fireworks. The best places for live music are Prinsengracht and Rembrandtsplein, Leidsepleain and Waterlooplein. There is a big gay scene in Amsterdam and you will find the area around Homomonument and Reguliersdwaarstraat becomes one huge open-air gay party on Queens Day.

The canals are bursting with boats carrying revellers dressed in orange singing and calling out to one another. They all have load music playing so it becomes a cacophony! Houseboats along the side of canals host their own parties as well. It is complete chaos sometimes with boats jostling for position under the bridges. Amazingly few seem to collide and hardly anyone falls in, probably because the canals are not like the Mediterranean either in terms of cleanliness or warmth! Remember, you have to start searching for travel discounts early in order to take advantage of this great adventure.

In many areas especially in parks there is street theatre with magicians and artists of all kinds. Amsterdam becomes a giant flea market at this time with families or groups of friends setting up stalls along the streets. You will certainly find some bargains. The main streets to check out are Damrak, Leidsestraat, Rokin and Spui.

Vondelpark is reserved for the children. This is where you can wander around and children have their own stalls usually laid out on a blanket on the grass. They sell their unwanted toys and clothes or things they have made including cakes and biscuits. Some children perform acts such as conjuring, or even acrobatics from trees, gymnastics or they play an instrument or sing. You are expected to make a small donation of course.

You can find loads of photos from last year’s Queens Day on the Internet (some great ones are on www.21stcenturyamsterdam.com/queens-day-amsterdam.html, but if you want to be in this years photos you’d better start looking for some cheap discount fares.

Posted by Gabe on Apr 20, 2008 | Comments


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