Queen s DayQueen's day (Dutch: Koninginnedag) on April 30 is the national holiday in The Netherlands, and is celebrated in the entire kingdom. It started as a celebration of the Dutch monarchy. The date is chosen because of the birthday of Queen Juliana (1909) and the accession of Queen Beatrix (1980). Queen Beatrix decided to keep the holiday on April 30, as the weather on her own birthday, January 31, tends to prohibit the traditional outdoor festivities. Before 1949, the holiday was celebrated on the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina, August 31. To appease Christians, the holiday is celebrated on the 29th in the years that the 30th is a Sunday (the Christian sabbath). ActivitiesThe color orange is a common sight on Queen's day, as it represents the "House of Orange" which is the name of the current Dutch dynasty. There are orange banners and flags, and sometimes the water in fountains are even dyed. On Queen's Day citizens do not need a permit to sell goods on the street. On this day the country turns into one big flea market, on which everybody can sell second hand trinkets they no longer use. The (rest of the) day is reserved for an open air party. Especially Amsterdam has a reputation for celebrating Queen's Day and generally draws somewhere between 500.000 and 2 million tourists from the rest of the country. Since Queen's Day is a national holiday lots of people also go out and party on the Eve of Queen's Day (called Koninginnenach in the Hague dialect). HistoryThe current monarch, Queen Beatrix, visits towns on Queen's Day where she is received with special celebrations, often in the form of demonstrations of old-fashioned dances and crafts. Queen Juliana instead let the people come to the Soestdijk Palace. She and her family members would stand on a dais, and a long file of citizens would walk past, congratulating the queen and giving her presents.
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