Koningsdag 27 April 2022

28 March 2022

At the end of April each year the Netherlands ramps up its usual love of all things “oranje” and cities as well as people across the country are covered in orange decoration – called Oranjegekte (orange craze) or Oranjekoorts (orange fever). Why? In celebration of Koningsdag (king’s day). Koningsdag as we know it today originates from Prinsesessendag (princess’ day) – the celebration of the then Prinses Wilhelmina’s birthday, who was born on 31 August 1880.

Liberal politicians had thought that the Netherlands needed a national holiday, with the monarchy as the binding factor. Whether people were from Limburg or Friesland, Catholic or Protestant, it should not make much difference. People should feel Dutch.

On 31 August 1885, the first Prinsessendag was celebrated in the Netherlands on the occasion of Prinses Wilhelmina's fifth birthday. After the death of King Willem III on 23 November 1890, Wilhelmina became Koningin, under the regency of her mother Koningin Emma. Prinsessendag then became Koninginnedag. In 1891, the first real Koninginnedag was celebrated in the Netherlands. Koningin Wilhelmina and her family did not attend the Koninginnedag celebrations. In those years, Koninginnedag was also the last day of the school holidays, which meant that it quickly became a day of celebration for children.

Official holiday

In September 1948, Koningin Juliana succeeded her mother. Like Koningin Wilhelmina, she celebrated Koninginnedag on her own birthday, 30 April, for the first time in 1949. Koningin Juliana and her family took part in a parade on the steps of Soestdijk Palace. Many Dutch people walked in a mile-long line along the steps and gave the Koninklijke Familie (royal family) flowers and gifts. This flower parade could be seen on television from the mid-1950s onwards. Under Koningin Juliana, Koninginnedag became an official holiday and the celebrations developed into a national holiday dedicated to solidarity.

Upon taking office as Koningin, Koningin Beatrix decided, out of respect for her mother, to continue celebrating Koninginnedag on 30 April. She chose not to let people come to her, but to go to the people herself. A practical consideration for this date was that the activities that were inextricably linked to this day usually took place outdoors and therefore benefited from a good chance of weather conditions that lent themselves to this. Together with other members of the Koninklijke Familie, she visited one or two towns in the Netherlands each year to celebrate Koninginnedag.

Koninginnedag became Koningsdag

In 2013, the Koningin passed the baton to her son Willem-Alexander and in 2014 Koninginnedag became Koningsdag and moved to Willem-Alexander’s actual birthday, 27 April.

Just as Carnaval is celebrated with more fervour in the south of the Netherlands, Koningsdag is usually a much bigger celebration in the north of the Netherlands. However, this year Maastricht will turn from her usual red to a royal orange when the Koninklijke Familie come to visit. In 2020, Maastricht was chosen as the city to host Koning Willem-Alexander, his wife Koningin Maxima and their three daughters Prinses Catharina-Amalia, Prinses Alexia and Prinses Ariane on his special day. Due to the pandemic the celebrations were postponed and this year we can finally welcome the royal celebrations in our city.

Celebrations in Maastricht

Would you like to watch the parade and catch a glimpse of the Koninklijke Familie or find out about other Koningsdag celebrations taking place in Maastricht? Head over to Visit Maastricht’s dedicated Koningsdag website for the programme and practical information.

King's Day Maastricht 2022
King's Day Maastricht ©RTV Maastricht - Massimo Marigo
©RTV Maastricht - Massimo Marigo