The Dutch Royal Family celebrates King’s Day, or as we say Koningsdag, in a different town every year. The celebrations usually take place on April 27th, the King’s birthday. The choice of location for the celebrations is made by the Royal House, and it is usually a place where they can experience the local culture and traditions. King’s Day is celebrated in the Netherlands and also in Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Let’s take a look at previous years and discover where and how King’s Day was celebrated. King’s Day history, a chronological overview of all King’s Day celebrations.
2024 – Emmen
➔ READ MORE – Kingsday in the city of Emmen, welcomes the Royal Family
2023 – Rotterdam throws a party for the Royal Family
The year 2023 is a special King’s Day. King Willem Alexander celebrates his King’s Day for the 10th time. On Thursday, April 27, the royal family will visit the city of Rotterdam to celebrate King Willem Alexander’s birthday. Rotterdam turns out to be more than great.
Certainly, Rotterdam makes a huge awesome fantastic turbo party for King’s Day 2023. The royal couple and their daughters Amalia, Alexia, and Ariane and all their royal guests are more than welcome in “Manhattan on the Maas” as Rotterdam is also called. But, the question is If all the princesses will be present on Kingsday 2023 in Rotterdam.
➔ READ MORE – Rotterdam, King’s Day celebrated in the biggest harbor city of the Netherlands
If you like to visit King’s Day on 27 April 2023 in Rotterdam you better book your hotel in time. A very nice place to stay is on the former passenger ship the SS De Rotterdam. This former passenger ship of the Holland-America Line is a unique, exquisite grand splendor hotel offering rooms in the harbor of Rotterdam.
➔ READ MORE – Make your hotel booking for Kingsday 2023
King’s Day 2022 in Maastricht
After 2 years of non-celebrations, King’s Day 2022 is celebrated again. Some outdoor activities were allowed, but still with restrictions. For example, street markets were permitted, but vendors required to register and maintain social distancing. Large gatherings and events were still not permitted, and people were encouraged to celebrate in small groups. King’s Day was a day of connectedness. A celebration we had been looking forward to like never before. So, on Wednesday, April 27th, 2022, the entire Royal Family celebrated Kings Day in the lovely city of Maastricht.
➔ READ MORE – a small impression of King’s Day in Maastricht
2021 – King’s Day – Covid – High Tech Campus Eindhoven
“A King’s Day to never forget and hopefully never to repeat”, these were the words of King Willem Alexander. A coronavirus pandemic is not the right moment to party. Subsequently, King’s Day was celebrated digitally in 2021. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, the Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane were all present at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven on King’s Day 2021 where a digital-themed party called ‘Knowledge’ was organized. Surprisingly, from a studio the Royal Family participated in an online event and a TV broadcast. Furthermore, Brainport Eindhoven presented itself in a virtual program. In fact, the Royal family was physically present on campus. But still the Royalties were integrated into the digital experience.
➔ King’s Day 2021 Eindhoven – High Tech Campus University Eindhoven
2020 – King’s Day – Home celebration during Corona
This year, in 2020, the Royal family celebrates King Willem’s birthday at home. Because of Corona, everything is different. Festivities are possible but everybody has to keep a distance of one and a half meters. The request is to stay at home as much as possible. People were encouraged to celebrate at home with their households and avoid large gatherings. Because of Covid, King’s Day is called this year Housing Day and Balkings Day, but whatever you name it, the King’s birthday will be celebrated anyway. Festivities have been organized all over the country but it is not the same. The King addresses his subjects via TV.
➔ READ MORE – King’s Day in Corona time
2019 – Royal Family in the city of Amersfoort
King’s Day in Amersfoort was fantastic, at least 45,000 people came to celebrate and see the royal family. The residents of Amersfoort made it a great day and showed all the highlights of the city and the details of its inhabitants. The world-famous art painter Piet Mondriaan was born in the city of Amersfoort. On King’s Day, everybody is out, nobody stays at home, it’s a big street party with music, street theater, and children selling their toys on the street. Moreover, there are cultural activities in the parks. It’s a great party with lots of music by the band Wudstik, there is theater, local artists and athletes. The Royal Family is tested on their knowledge of the city of Amersfoort using a quiz. But above all, there is a lot of fun, and everybody is happy. Look at this nice impression of King’s Day at Amersfoort, with subtitles.
➔ READ MORE – King’s Day, the Royal Family visits the city of Amersfoort
2018 – King Willem in the city of Groningen
The city of Groningen is famous for the problems caused by gas extraction and earthquakes. But this is not the only thing that matters in the city of Groningen. Groningen is a great modern city with a great population that is proud of its city. Who and what is fantastic about Groningen: footballer and national coach Ronald Koeman, entrepreneur Ben Woldring with start-ups and green energy, Eurosonic Noorderslag, University of Groningen, Academieplein, RUG building, North Netherlands Orchestra, dance club Guy & Roni. Groningen celebrates King’s Day as a big feast, with lots of happy people. It’s all about fun, laughter, fun, and more fun.
➔ READ MORE – King’s Day – a small but lovely impression of King’s Day at the city Groningen
2017 – King’s Day in the city of Tilburg
Celebrating King’s Day in Tilburg was an exuberant affair, which enveloped the city in warmth and joy. King Willem Alexander commented that it felt like a warm bath, the feeling of unity and cheerfulness was shared by everyone.
2016 – King’s Day in the city of Zwolle
King’s Day in Zwolle has been given a new style with the introduction of the King Games by King Willem Alexander and Queen Beatrix. This new style of King’s Day is focused on education and sports. The day before King’s Day is dedicated to sports activities for all schools across the Netherlands and begins with a King’s breakfast. The King himself kicks off the sporting events at one of the schools on that day. King’s Day in Zwolle is now a sports-focused celebration.
2015 – King’s Day in Dordrecht near Rotterdam
The Royal Family arrived by boat at Dordrecht in 2015 and a grand parade started. Next, after the parade, the Royal Family went to the Cathedral where they watched a musical show by the Bach Choir. Finally, they met with city residents. Moreover, the King enjoyed local products and artists showed their work to the Royalties.
2014 – King’s Day in the city of Amstelveen
King’s Day in the city of Amstelveen was celebrated on April 26 rather than its usual date of April 27 since it fell on a Sunday. The city center of Amstelveen was transformed into a lively venue for music, song, dance, and various other festivities.
➔ READ MORE – A small impression of King’s Day Amstelveen 2014
2013 – Queen’s Day becomes King’s Day, Change of Throne
In 2013, on 30 April, King Willem Alexander was crowned in Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk on what used to be Queen’s Day, marking a historic transition as Queen Beatrix passed the crown to him and Queen Maxima became queen consort. This momentous occasion reshaped the essence of King’s Day, making it unlike any before or after. The entire nation joined in grand celebrations, embracing the new reign with enthusiasm and unity, heralding a new era under King Willem Alexander’s leadership. Royal processions and festivities adorned the streets, painting a vibrant tapestry of national pride and joy, as the Dutch people came together to honor their new monarchs and the enduring spirit of the Netherlands. 30 April 2013 was the last Queens Day. King Willem Alexander decided to celebrate “King’s Day’ from this day on his birthday on April 27th.
1981 till 2013 Queens Day, 30 April
Queen Beatrix, as a mark of respect for her mother, chose to celebrate her birthday on April 30th, which was her mother’s birthday, instead of the usual date of January 31st, which is Queen’s Day. She marked the occasion by visiting two municipalities every year to celebrate King’s Day and made sure that she and her family went to the people rather than having the people come to them. Queen Beatrix and her family resided at Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague.
1949 till 1980 Queens Day, 30 April on Castle Soestdijk
Between the years 1949 to 1980, the former Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Juliana, celebrated Queen’s Day on her birth anniversary, which was on April 30th. Each year on this date, a defile was held at the Soestdijk Castle where the royal family would stand on the steps while the people walked past offering gifts and performances. Castle Soestdijk is nowadays a museum.
➔ READ MORE – Paleis Soestdijk, Castle Soestdijk, the residence of Queen Juliana
1885 First Royal Princess Day, and from1891 till 1948 Queens Day on 31 August on Castle Het Loo
In 1885, the first Princess Day was celebrated on August 31st to commemorate Princess Wilhelmina’s fifth birthday. She was crowned in 1890 and continued to celebrate the day until 1948 when she abdicated the throne. August 31st was the last school holiday, and Queen’s Day grew into a popular festival. Queen Wilhelmina was a beloved and very popular queen, she lived with her family on Paleis het Loo. The Castle Het Loo is nowadays a museum.
➔ READ MORE – Paleis het Loo, Castle Het Loo, the palace residence of Queen Wilhelmina
If you would like to learn more about King’s Day, please visit our dedicated blog post.
➔ READ MORE – King’s Day is the celebration of the birthday of the Dutch King Willem Alexander
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If you want to be totally unique….the European Lubricating Grease Institute will be having their Annual Meeting/Conference at the Marriott Hotel Leidseplein! Carol Koopman is our General Manager, and she offices in Amsterdam. We have all been advised to wear orange!