low country margaret: koninginnenacht + dag

Brought to you by Ellie Thomas

A huge street party with over a million people dressed in orange? Yes please. Every 30 April, the Dutch celebrate Koninginnedag, Queen's Day, celebrating Queen Beatrix's birthday. One might assume that the celebration of a respectable, royal granny would be equally, well, respectable and royal. Incorrect. Millions of people participate all over the country, with hundreds of thousands decending upon Den Haag for the Koninginnenact, Queen's Night, pre-party, and then to Amsterdam for the festivities the following day.

For two days, the Dutch train system grinds to a choking point, people hawk all their old crap from their attic in what starts to look like a giant, national garage sale, the city center is packed with live DJ performances, partiers dance the day away on techno boats in the canal belt, beer wagons appear at every street corner, people rave in the street, and old men skinny dip in the canal. The Vrijmarkt, or Free Market where people line the sidewalks with second hand goods, takes place because the Dutch government allows sales without tax solely on this national holiday. Kids sell their toys, grandmas sell their teacups, students sell the use of their toilet in their flat.

Apparently, the Koninginenacht celebrations began some years ago as a way to officially promote partying instead of the violent annual riots that broke out in the streets the night before Queen's Day. This year, a troubling indecent happened the day of Queen's Day in Appeldoorn, about 60km from Amsterdam. A man who had been recently laid off from his job and was to be evicted 1 May drove his car into a crowd of holiday revelers, killing 5 in his attempt to hit the jumbo bus carrying Queen Beatrix. The car then veered down the street, eventually crashing into a monument, killing the driver. It was a bizarre event, and very saddening. Some performances and festivities were canceled in some cities after hearing about it. We heard about the indecent around midday on the streets of Amsterdam, and one of the larger DJ performances was cut short in the city that evening. However, the somber event was overcome with orange - for the day at least. The confetti swirled, the balloons popped, the drunkards fell.