Queen’s Day in Maastricht

Every year on Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day), 30 April, the Netherlands celebrates the Queen’s official birthday. Street parties and other events are held all around the country. This year in Maastricht, a large “vrijmarkt” (free market) was organised in the StadPark (City park) and many music bands performed for the public.

In previous years, the number of visitors to the Queensday Festival in Maastricht have varied between 15.000 and 23.000. But according to the organisers, this year’s sixth edition of the event greatly benefited from the beautiful weather conditions and attracted a record number of 50.000 visitors.

Photographs by Clara de Nadal Trias

Clara de Nadal Trias was born in Barcelona, Spain. She’s licensed in journalism and is currently doing an internship at the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht. She is interested in all media matters, with a preference for fashion journalism and fashion design.

More information about Koninginnedag in the Netherlands:
Koninginnedag started as a celebration of the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina (1880-1962), on August 31. After 1948 Koninginnedag moved to April 30 (the birthday of Queen Juliana). When Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana on April 30th 1980, she decided to keep the holiday on April 30th as a tribute to her mother. Furthermore, the weather on her own birthday (January 31st) tends to prohibit the traditional outdoor festivities. April 30th, however, is renowned for having very pleasant weather.

The so-called ‘vrijmarkt’ (’freemarket’) is similar to a (nationwide) car boot sale. Thanks to a special holiday dispensation from the Dutch government, people do not need to pay taxes on their sales. Many people set up stalls or blankets in parks, on sidewalks and even on the roads themselves (cars are banned in some streets). The items sold are traditionally old rubbish, but for commercial traders this is also an extremely profitable day. The freemarket in Amsterdam attracts the most visitors.

Typically, lots of children sell their cast-off toys and clothes; many people also sell food, beverages and almost anything else imaginable. Prices tend to be very negotiable and drop as the day progresses.

Source: Wikipedia