1 may 2005
Koninginnedag, Queen’s Day, is the Netherlands’ best effort at an all-out street party, and though I have had the bar somewhat raised by my recent trip to Spain, I must admit that for the Dutch they certainly made a showing.
Two million visitors flock to Amsterdam alone for the all-day all-night affair every April 30, marking the birthday of the previous queen, Queen Wilhemina. Queen Beatrix, currently on the throne, was born in January – a bad time for an outdoor festival. So while Beatrix’s birthday goes by quietly, Wilhemina’s is greeted with outdoor concerts, a city-wide flea market, and a LOT of orange clothing (in honor of the Dutch House of Orange).
As a gift to the people, Koninginnedag is a “tax-free” day: no taxes are technically required for informally provided goods and services. Consequently, people of all ages turn into 24-hour entrepreneurs. Blankets line the sidewalks, filled with old household goods. Children set up their drum sets in the park and collect change. My friends Miriam and Maria cooked ten Spanish potato tortillas and sold the slices at two euros each, grossing 90 euros towards their summer vacation.
The coolest place to be on Koninginnedag, however, is on the canals. Everyone with a boat loads up on beer, snacks, and music and spends the whole day cruising. The canals are so full of boats that you could walk across the water deck-to-deck. They crawl along, and impromptu ephemeral parties are formed at every bridge bottleneck. Some of the boats host wine-and-cheese type parties, while others become mobile clubs with turntables and dancefloors.
I really, really wanted to be on a boat. After roaming the streets all morning soaking up the festival energy and a few orange drinks, I optimistically installed myself on a low canal wall and hoped hard for an invitation. But the boats are FULL. An Amsterdam friend with a boat on Queen’s Day is like a New York friend with roof access on the Fourth of July. By the day of, Amsterdammers have worked all their conceivable contacts to secure a place on a boat, and few are left over – not to mention that these places, at such a premium, are hardly offered to the jolly, boisterous, numerous public. I chatted with several friendly boaters in full boats before realizing I had to be more proactive.
I went back to my room to get a bottle of wine. On the way I ran into Mugeh, a Turkish woman who lives in my building. She was trying to figure out what to do next, and was easily coerced into my boat plot. We made a large cardboard sign that read: “Room for 2 dancers? We have wine!” Five minutes later we were on a boat.
The boat we were on was fucking fantastic. They had a DJ and a lot of Heineken and about 20 friends who had been celebrating together on the boat for eight years. They were all wearing silver wigs, for the 25th annual Koninginnedag. We coasted around the canals for hours, dancing on the deck and waving to the thousands of people lining the canal walls and bridges. Oh, good trip moment.
Two million visitors flock to Amsterdam alone for the all-day all-night affair every April 30, marking the birthday of the previous queen, Queen Wilhemina. Queen Beatrix, currently on the throne, was born in January – a bad time for an outdoor festival. So while Beatrix’s birthday goes by quietly, Wilhemina’s is greeted with outdoor concerts, a city-wide flea market, and a LOT of orange clothing (in honor of the Dutch House of Orange).
As a gift to the people, Koninginnedag is a “tax-free” day: no taxes are technically required for informally provided goods and services. Consequently, people of all ages turn into 24-hour entrepreneurs. Blankets line the sidewalks, filled with old household goods. Children set up their drum sets in the park and collect change. My friends Miriam and Maria cooked ten Spanish potato tortillas and sold the slices at two euros each, grossing 90 euros towards their summer vacation.
The coolest place to be on Koninginnedag, however, is on the canals. Everyone with a boat loads up on beer, snacks, and music and spends the whole day cruising. The canals are so full of boats that you could walk across the water deck-to-deck. They crawl along, and impromptu ephemeral parties are formed at every bridge bottleneck. Some of the boats host wine-and-cheese type parties, while others become mobile clubs with turntables and dancefloors.
I really, really wanted to be on a boat. After roaming the streets all morning soaking up the festival energy and a few orange drinks, I optimistically installed myself on a low canal wall and hoped hard for an invitation. But the boats are FULL. An Amsterdam friend with a boat on Queen’s Day is like a New York friend with roof access on the Fourth of July. By the day of, Amsterdammers have worked all their conceivable contacts to secure a place on a boat, and few are left over – not to mention that these places, at such a premium, are hardly offered to the jolly, boisterous, numerous public. I chatted with several friendly boaters in full boats before realizing I had to be more proactive.
I went back to my room to get a bottle of wine. On the way I ran into Mugeh, a Turkish woman who lives in my building. She was trying to figure out what to do next, and was easily coerced into my boat plot. We made a large cardboard sign that read: “Room for 2 dancers? We have wine!” Five minutes later we were on a boat.
The boat we were on was fucking fantastic. They had a DJ and a lot of Heineken and about 20 friends who had been celebrating together on the boat for eight years. They were all wearing silver wigs, for the 25th annual Koninginnedag. We coasted around the canals for hours, dancing on the deck and waving to the thousands of people lining the canal walls and bridges. Oh, good trip moment.
posted by tortaluga at 3:10 AM
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