Happy Queen's Day!!

Koninginnedag or Queen's Day is a national holiday on 30 April and celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. Although Queen Beatrix's birthday is on 31 January, she officially celebrates her birthday on 30 April (her mum’s birthday) because the weather is nicer.
During the celebrations as reference to William I of Orange who organised the Dutch revolt against the Spanish (which eventually led to an independent Dutch state) people dress in the colour orange, which is sometimes called "orange craze" (oranjegekte).
The night before Queen's Day is celebrated bigtime in The Hague and this is called Koninginnenacht. Last night they had rides, bands, dj’s and popup bars everywhere. The trams were redirected so there were crowds spilling everywhere without restriction. We had dinner at a pub-restaurant in the middle of it. They played Men at Work’s “Downunder” for some strange reason. The crowds were celebratory but reasonably quiet. It was a pleasant vibe.
We had the best Queens Day we have ever had in our lives. We spent the morning on The Fred. Queen's Day is known for its "freemarket" (vrijmarkt) all over the country, where everybody is allowed to sell things in the streets. The Fred was closed to traffic and families had marked out their stall territories the night before. Scores of people were selling their old clothes, children’s toys, books, LP’s, video tapes and random other ancient obsolete artefacts but you could also pick up a set of bongo drums or ice skates if you were in the market for them. I found a hairdresser who had a stall and bought a brand new powerful salon hairdryer (drastically reduced – a bargain!). Sean bought a new carbon fibre drink bottle holder for his bike. For one euro I also got a pencil box handpainted with the image of a ship. Lots of adorable children performed on their musical instruments ranging from saxophone to piano accordion to recorder – some more gifted than others. A couple of kids even staged their own breakdancing show and they were first-rate. We ate Poffertjes (Dutch Pancakes with icing sugar) and broodje braadwurst with mustard (sausage on a roll). The Dutch have the tastiest sausages. We also had an orange iced profiterole. All cakes and pastries must by law have orange icing on Queens day (joke).
In the arvo we cycled to the city which had a serene recovery mode ambience. In the cobbled lane ways pubs and cafes decorated with orange balloons and flags overflowed onto the streets with portable barbecues and beer in plastic cups. It was really cool.