Fijne Koningsdag!
Koningsdag is the Dutch national holiday and widely celebrated in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in honour of the King’s birthday on 27 April. Previously, the day was observed on the 30 April under the name of Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day in honour of Queen Beatrix. With Willem-Alexander’s accession to the throne in 2013 – as the first male heir since the initial celebration of the date – the holiday was renamed to King’s Day.
The first celebration of the holiday took place in 1885 as Prinsessedag (Princess’s Day) in honour of the heir presumptive to the Dutch throne, Princess Wilhelmina. With the coronation of Wilhelmina’s daughter Juliana, the date was moved from August to 30 April in 1949. When Queen Beatrix ascended the throne in 1980, she decided to continue celebrating the day on the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana. She also started visiting different Dutch towns every year to celebrate with the people.
On Koningsdag, the people in the Netherlands take part in large-scale festivities throughout the country and celebrate the “orange madness” (oranjegekte). With reference to the national colour orange, people dress up in orange or consume orange-coloured drinks. It is also popular to participate in the nationwide flea market (vrijmarkt) and there a numerous cultural events in public spaces.
Did you know?
- Before his coronation in 2013, the King of the Netherlands was a member of the International Olympic Committee.
- Even the royal family makes the most of the national flea market – it is known that Queen Beatrix purchased a floor lamp there in 1995.
- The Netherlands were the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.
- Over a quarter of the Netherlands’ territory is actually below sea level – hence the name that literally translates to low-lying country.
So, on Koningsdag, why not choose to practise your Dutch and interpreting skills with our Speech Repository? There, you will find 121 public speeches and 91 speeches in the restricted section in Dutch on various topics. What are you waiting for? Let’s get started!
Happy practice,
Your Speech repository Team