Laatste 30 april met Beatrix?
此次(明日)會是荷蘭女王(Beatrix)的最後一次 ”Koninginnedag女王日”嗎?
The annual, national celebration of Queen Beatrix’s birthday marks what is perhaps the only day of the year for the Dutch to demonstrate how proud they are of their country.
The Dutch typically tell the world that they are neither nationalists nor chauvinists, but on 30 April, everyone dresses up in orange, the colour of the Dutch royal dynasty House of Orange.
Young and old spend days making preparations for what is not only the most popular national holiday in The Netherlands, but a day of entertainment and commerce.
At Rokin Street in Amsterdam, all the normal souvenir shops have been transformed into an ocean of orange. Customers can buy hats, T- shirts, shorts and skirts in orange, as well as orange paint to dye one’s hair and face, in addition to orange whistles, balloons and bags.
”Queen’s Day boosts my business,” one shop owner says.
”Sales go up more than a week before. Only an international football match where the Dutch team ends in the finals can compete with the profits I make before and during Queen’s Day.”
Queen’s Day over the years
Queen’s Day originally was a serious day, the celebration of the late Queen Juliana’s birthday. A highly select group of people would be invited to walk by the doorstep of her Soestdijk palace in the central Netherlands for a formal outdoor flower reception.
The royal family, including the queen, would stand atop the doorstep and wave at her guests, while the rest of the country would be off work and participate in outdoor games or browse through one-day flea markets.
At her coronation in 1980, Juliana’s daughter Queen Beatrix determined that her mother’s birthday would remain a national holiday.
But she also introduced an innovation - she decided to meet the Netherland’s common people on the day by visiting two or three villages or cities every year, together with the entire royal family.
For that one day of the year, the royal family would mingle with the rest of the country, playing their games with them and enjoying the accompanying entertainment.
From that time, Queen’s Day has gained popularity, including in those cities not visited by the queen.
Amsterdam boasts some 500,000 visitors on Queen’s Day, The Hague and Rotterdam 350,000 and Utrecht 250,000.
The packed city centres are replete with flea markets, children play the violin or guitar, and magicians.
As casual as the Queen’s visits may appear on live television broadcasts, the truth is that they are strictly organised under the direct supervision of the queen herself.
The city or village the queen is due to visit prepares a programme, which is then sent to the palace for inspection and approval.
Queen’s plan for 2008
This year, the queen and her family will be visiting Makkum and Franeker, with populations of 3,400 and 13,000 respectively.
”Our programme was approved immediately,” Franeker press spokesman Paul Loonstra says proudly.
Hosting the queen costs several hundreds of thousands of euros - a major investment for a small town like Franeker, Loonstra says.
But he adds that ”hosting the queen is not only an honour but also pays off economically in the long run.”
Booming sales for business people
Queen’s Day stirs up the business instinct in all Dutchmen, making them all feel for one day at least like true business people, even if the business is only at a flea market.
Mark de Jager, 23, collects electronic devices all year long to sell on Queen’s Day.
”I make some EUR 700 usually,” he says.
Children and their parents often sell clothing and toys they have outgrown.
”It’s fun and we even get to keep some pocket-money,” says Marleen de Geer, 35, who makes ”between EUR 150 and EUR 180” on Queen’s Day.
This year, she and her children are also planning to sell home- made cookies.
As for the financial benefits to the cities themselves, Paul Loonstra cannot provide details.
”It is difficult to establish exact numbers,” he says. ”But all cities that hosted her say their city’s image improved considerably afterwards and attracted a lot more tourists.”
Whether or not it will pay off financially, depends most likely on the weather.
”Several years back I had great stuff to sell,” says De Jager, ”but I only made EUR 15 because it was poring all day!”
The current forecast predicts a sunny spring day for Wednesday.
[dpa / Erwin Boogert / Expatica]
This year is no different, with the Queen’s birthday being celebrated on Wednesday 30 April.
Market
Koninginnedag - or Queen’s Day - is the one day a year that ordinary folk are allowed to set up shop on the sidewalk without a trading licence. A good thing too, as most of the bargains bought on Queen’s Day will either end up in the garbage by 1 May, or be stashed away in an attic or garage until next year’s festivities.
Marking territory
Traditionally in the days running up to Queen’s Day, strange boxes are sectioned off on pavements around the country and marked with the word ”Bezet”, or occupied.
To the uninitiated, these markings in chalk or tape may appear to be some kind of bizarre crop circles. They are not, they are just an example of the assertiveness of the Dutch – if you want to sell items on Queen’s Day you have to mark out your territory well in advance.
The Dutch are very assertive when it comes to free trade, but not so interested in tidying up afterwards, so that the ”Bezet” markings tend to linger on long after Queen’s Day and for months after that.
For the first time ever, Amsterdam City Council took the previously unthinkable step in 2004 of banning locals from reserving their patch. Anyone caught marking the pavement faced a EUR 110 fine. Now, in cities with a free market, it’s first come gets a place, and selliing is permitted from 6am until 8pm.
One could argue that selling junk is a rather curious way to celebrate Queen Beatrix’s birthday, especially given that her birthday is in January. But being the old sport she is, the Queen decided in 1980 when she ascended to the throne that Queen’s Day would remain on 30 April in honour the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana.
Guidebooks constantly marvel at the quaint Koninginnedag customs, when the supposedly-reserved Dutch let their hair down and toast the Queen and her Royal House by covering everything in orange, buying and selling as if it was still the 1600s and indulging in lots of music, street performances and alcohol.
(Copyright Expatica 2008)
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