Koninginnedag April 30, 2012

When we were planning to come to Amsterdam, our goal was to arrive in time for Queen's Day (Koninginnedag), which occurs on April 30th of every year.  April 30th is the birthday of Queen Julianna, the current Queen's (Queen Beatrix) mother.  We missed Queen's Day by 2 weeks last year, and so we've been waiting for quite some time to experience this.

Queen's Day is the one day of the year that you do not need a permit to sell things on the streets.  Therefore, every entrepreneurial Dutch person holds their own sort of yard sale, selling everything from old baby clothes to homemade sushi to playing guitar or dancing for tips.

People marking the prime spots with tape (sometimes weeks before).  They either write their names or "BEZET" for "reserved" or "taken"

Hanging out with friends the on Queen's Night (Queen's Day Eve)

Carnival ride on Nieuwemarkt.  The guy in the center pulls the swings to make them fly way out over the spectators.

Hanging out with friends the on Queen's Night (Queen's Day Eve)

Nieuwemarkt on Koninginnenacht

Dressed in Orange for Queen's Day

Kids playing cello in their bakfiets.  The entire Vondelpark is only reserved for kids to sell things and perform

Kids (or teenagers) would stand behind those boards and put their heads in the hole.  You could pay 1euro and throw eggs at the kids heads!  And it was the kid's idea!  Note the stack of eggs in the foreground.

Eat 4 cookies in 1 minute and win 50euro

Watching boats on Prinsengracht.  The number of boats increased as the day went on.

The number of people in the city was outrageous.  I would compare it to being as crowded as Mardi Gras but over the entire city.  In some parts is was literally impossible to move.  But we had a blast!