KingsDay 2014 - Amsterdam and Haarlem

By result of an unhappy accident I found myself staying in the Netherlands on the first Kings Day bank holiday in over a 100 years.  I couldn't miss the chance to see for myself the colour, the boats and the street party.

This is the picture you will see all over the tourist websites and social media promoting the event.  And it's exactly how you find the festivities.  There are plenty of spots where the boats face a traffic jam and the sheer number trying to get through means things soon pile up.

The boats were all shapes and sizes, from little 2-man dingy's to the big tour-boat things.  Including some full of Japanese tourists who didn't quite know what to make of it all!  What the photos struggle to capture is the noise and atmosphere by the canal.  Each boat had a sound system, some had a DJ spinning the decks and all were high-spirited.

Scenes like the above were common, with people selling each other various goods whether it be food - or mostly alcohol.  One of my favourite accessories was the couch below.  You definitely would - and it's orange to boot.

Getting out onto the streets they were full of second hand stalls.  It was common to hear people barter on even a 3-Euro item of clothing.  My favourite moment of the day was clocking a proud looking young kid, maybe 4 or 5 years old with her home-made lemonade.  10 cents a glass.  I got 5 meters past her and made up my mind paying for a glass would be enough to make her day and a group of British girls in front had obviously had the same thought and scurried back to fuss over her.  Elsewhere there were hog roasts, burgers and chilled beers everywhere.

The streets weren't as crowded as expected, but I didn't head to the center of the city, I stayed around Jordaan.  I headed back to Haarlem to find that as lively.  The usually quiet main square had a fairground and a full on street party outside Cafe XO.  That was 3 in the afternoon.

Overall - I'm glad I saw it.  I think to do the day in a group would be amazing.  There are parties everywhere, DJs, drinks and everyone in such good spirits.

I just couldn't imagine a day like this in England.  A day where everyone just had the same, simple idea, and a day where you can be proud of your nationality without judgement.  There's no way that many people would be by the canals or on the boats without throwing things at the crowd or vice versa.