Royal family complete on visit to Emmen, changeable weather on King’s Day

Together with Queen Máxima, Princess Amalia and her sisters, King Willem-Alexander celebrates his 57th birthday in Emmen. As always, the Oranjes have a full King’s Day program in Drenthe. The royal family passes through various squares where they dance and play games.

In addition, artists Bouke Scholten and Jannes from Emmen sing to the king. The walk starts at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast live by NOS on NPO 1.

Willem-Alexander, born on April 27, 1967 as the first son of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, has been king for eleven years this year. According to the traditional survey that NOS publishes on King’s Day, the Dutch currently rate it with a 6.6. Last year he got a 6.5. In 2020, the Dutch still rated him at 7.7, but his popularity fell sharply during the corona pandemic.

Protest republicans

The anti-monarchist movement Republic uses King’s Day for a protest in Emmen. The Republicans want the king to earn a lot less and to pay income, inheritance and gift taxes.

Instead of the 1.1 million euros that Willem-Alexander now receives annually, the king does not have to earn more than the Balkenende standard, according to Republic. This is now around 233,000 euros per year. The movement has started a signature campaign, which will officially kick off on Saturday.

In addition to his payment of 1.1 million, Willem-Alexander receives almost 6 million in expense allowances. “At a time when so many people are having a hard time, it is inexplicable that we pay the head of state so much money, it is unfair and a symbol of inequality in society,” said chairman Floris Müller.

Republic places a large scoreboard along the route that the royal family takes in Emmen with the current status of the number of signatures collected. ‘An interactive demonstration’, Müller calls the action.

The leader of the Republicans hopes that the petition will eventually be signed at least 50,000 times. You can draw until Budget Day. The organization then wants to present the signatures to the House of Representatives.

Busy King’s Night

Despite the cool temperatures and rain, several cities filled up on Friday evening for King’s Night. The municipality of Utrecht, where the traditional Vrijmarkt started at the beginning of the evening, called for people to stop coming to the city at 11 p.m.

The Neude in the center of Utrecht was the first to be overcrowded. There were events and performances at various places in the city until 1 a.m. The municipality announced on X just before 11:30 PM that the crowds in the city were decreasing. ‘Would you like to do another dance? For example, go to Vredenburg.’ The message included a map showing other party locations in Utrecht.

The Grote Markt in The Hague, where the music festival The Life I Live took place, was also full. Visitors’ bags were checked as a precaution at the entrances to the site, an ANP reporter reported.

The Hague mayor Jan van Zanen was present at the party early in the evening. He did not say whether there were increased security measures. ‘I’m not going to say anything about that. We are prepared for all scenarios and you can bet that the police, boas and the municipality are prepared.’

Fall from scaffolding

The cafes in Amsterdam’s Jordaan were pleasantly busy on Friday evening, but not full, according to an ANP reporter on site. It was busiest at the well-known places such as café Nol and Blaffende Vis; there it was already difficult for the audience to get through the crowd around 8 p.m.

Just before midnight, a man fell several floors from a scaffolding near the Westerkerk in the center of the capital. He was rushed to hospital with unknown injuries, a police spokeswoman said.

The victim was part of a group of five people who had climbed the scaffolding of the tower of the church on Prinsengracht. All five were arrested, the four who were not injured were taken to the police station.

Tens of thousands celebrate King’s Day at large parties

Large parties are traditionally organized in various places in the country on Saturday in honor of King’s Day. Radio 538 is celebrating an anniversary in Breda: the station is celebrating the King’s Day celebration for the thirtieth time.

All 40,000 tickets for the event on the Chasséveld in Breda had already been sold out by mid-March. Partygoers can expect performances by Davina Michelle, Guus Meeuwis, Marco Schuitmaker, Miss Montreal, Snelle and Tino Martin, among others. Chef’Special, DI-RECT, Krezip, Racoon, Son Mieux and Suzan & Freek are also present. In the past, the celebration of 538 took place on the Museumplein in Amsterdam for eleven years.

Kingsland is now taking place in the capital and in Groningen and Rotterdam, which attracted around 100,000 people last year. Big DJ names such as Martin Garrix and Nicky Romero perform in Amsterdam and in Groningen, Kraantje Pappie and Kris Kross Amsterdam, among others, perform. Rotterdam has FLEMMING, Oliver Heldens and Tabitha on the line-up.

50,000 people are expected at the Strandpark Aquabest festival site near Best in Brabant for the Supersized Kingsday Festival. Numerous DJs play here on a total of seven different stages.

Hit and miss

The weather on King’s Day varies, with dry periods where the sun sometimes shines, but also with showers. It will be between 14 and 18 degrees. Particularly in the east of the country, showers may be heavy later this afternoon, with localized hail and thunder.