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| Queen's Day april 30 City center, Vondelpark |
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 'Queen's Day' is a real festive occasion in the Netherlands,
and especially Amsterdam is famous for staging an all out street
party, which starts the night before and lasts well into the small
hours the next day. People stroll
through the city dressed in orange [the Queen
is from the House of Orange], a beer in hand and the national colors
painted on their face.  On this
day, actually the Queen Mother's birthday, all street trade is unregulated, so a
lot of people shovel unused surplus from their attics onto the sidewalk
and have fun all day selling it to passers-by. Real bargains can be had,
but it helps to get there early. Getting there late means you probably
won't get there anyway, because on a sunny Queensday the center tends to
block up in the afternoon. To escape the crowds you could try venturing
out into the surrounding neighbourhoods.The more pragmatic minds used to just stock up on cans of beer, cheap wine and 'sateh' and tried to make a fast Euro selling these. Because of the recent commercialisation of the street trade, in such a way that professional merchants took up the prime spots and left no place for the traders-for-a-day, the festive character of the day got somewhat spoiled.  New
regulations have come into place: no selling of alcohol or foods without a
license, and trade in the Vondelpark, one of the hubs of the party, is off
limits for anyone other than children. Also, no street trade till 6am, but
this doesn't keep the party from starting much earlier. All in all a great
day to be out on the street, especially when the sun shines. |
