pronunciation or Queen's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the NetherlandsIt actually celebrates the Queen mothers birthday which is on the 30th of April (the 29th if the 30th falls on a Sunday). The present Queen, Beatrix's birthday is in January, so it was decided to keep April as a date as the weather is usually good. The first time it was celebrated was 31 August 1885 as Prinsessedag or Princess's Day, the fifth birthday of Princess Wilhelmina heiress to the Dutch throne. On her accession, the holiday acquired its present name, Koninginnedag. When held on 31 August the holiday was the final day of school summer vacation, leading to its popularity among children. Following the accession of Wilhelmina's daughter Queen Juliana in 1948, the holiday was moved to her birthday.
It has now become a huge national holiday. The Queen and her entourage visit a couple of Dutch towns or villages where traditional games are played etc. However the main event for the public is that Holland turns into one huge jumble sale. Everyone turns out their attic, the kids bake cakes, everyone dresses in orange clothes and the police turn a blind eye to the general (drunken) festive activities.............
It's traditional to eat orange Tompoucen (the normal version has pink icing) Here is a video of how NOT to eat one . The correct way is to lift the top section of pastry of and eat that first, then the lower part with the custard filling - this is one time you CAB use you fingers :~))
The picture on the right is the park near us......
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