Queen's Day in the Netherlands

On April 30, 2010 in the Netherlands will be celebrated the Queen's Day - a holiday, which the Dutch consider to be principal to their country. The day of the Queen is set in honor of the birthday of Queen Juliana, which falls on April 30. The current Queen of the Netherlands Beatrix decided to leave the date of the celebration in memory of her mother and did not move the celebration of the date to her own birthday. Thus, today April 30 for the Netherlands is one of the major national holidays.

Queen's Day in the Netherlands is a celebration of the unity of the nation, a day of orange color, public festivals and outdoor concerts. The day of the Queen is also famous for the fact that at this time the whole country turns into one big flea market. According to the tradition, on this day any resident of the Netherlands can sell on the streets any goods (except those few that are officially banned in the Netherlands). Spontaneous markets, which on this day can be found in every city in the Netherlands, are called vrijmark. The most common good there are antiques and also one of the symbols of the Netherlands - wooden shoes.

In big cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, the holiday is not only April 30, but the night before the holiday, which was named as Koninginnenacht or "Royal night". Celebrations on Koninginnenacht are among the most popular in the Netherlands during the whole year. The biggest celebration of Koninginnenacht is in Amsterdam, where at night the streets of the capital of the Netherlands are filled by over 1 million people. The central venue of the celebrations in Amsterdam is Dam Square, the streets of Leidsestraat, Roken and Spyuy.

Rent in the Netherlands for tourists at the time of day the of Queen increases by 15-40% depending on the region. The most expensive in this case, as expected, turns out to be Amsterdam, where price growth is the most significant. One way of another, users of cottages-for-holidays.com still have the opportunity to find inexpensive apartments in Amsterdam and other cities to stay for a holiday.

On this year's Queen's Day security measures will be strengthened during the celebration. On April 30, 2009 during the celebrations on the occasion of the Queen’s Day in the city of Apeldoorn was attempted an assassination of the members of the Royal Family of the Netherlands. At high speed the car crashed into a crowd of people greeted the Queen's motorcade. As a result of the accident were killed 7 people, including the driver of the car. The queen herself by chance avoided the accident. On the Queen’s Day in the Netherlands in 2010 the police will work in the stricter mode.