Holidays and Festivals in Netherlands

Holidays and festivals in Netherlands are a mix of religious occasions, cultural celebrations as well as national history. Despite their staid and hard-working nature, the Dutch know how to have a good time and all their jollity and love of merry-making is brought to the fore during the holidays and festivals of the country.

New Year

New Year’s Eve is mostly celebrated privately with family or close friends. Most Dutch watch evening-long television programs and solo comedy acts and sketches while enjoying traditional delicacies like donut balls or ‘oliebollen’  and apple fritters known as ‘appelbeignets’. At the stroke of midnight, the champagne is uncorked and everyone comes out to watch spectacular displays of fireworks in the night sky. One of the most anticipated rituals associated with the New Year in Netherlands is the New Year’s Dive when the bravest among the Dutch take a dip in the ice-cold North Sea. This event is organized in several seaside resorts, the most popular of which is Scheveningen. Many Dutch start the New Year with a list of resolutions. Another popular custom is to visit family members to wish them a Happy New Year.

Carnival

The weekend before the beginning of Lent is given over to parties and merry-making particularly in the Catholic predominant provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant. Whereas it is customary in Noord-Brabant to don a peasant blouse and wild attire, the people of Limburg try to outdo each other with the most outrageous costume. Parades are held and there is a lot of drinking and feasting. Other places where the Carnival is held with a lot of enthusiasm are Amsterdam and The Hague.

During Carnival weekend, the Carnival Prince has control of the city and, together with his subjects, celebrates the temporary establishment of their Kingdom of Fools. For three days, revelers make their way from pub to pub and reception room to reception room, accompanied by a ‘band of fools'. Prince Carnival is greeted with three cheers of ‘alaaf!’. With the burning of Carnival mascots and decorations by the celebrants on Carnival Tuesday, they symbolically bid farewell to the Kingdom of Fools. It is customary to eat herring on Ash Wednesday, which traditionally marks the end of Carnival.

Queen’s Day

This is special event in the Dutch calendar as opposed to many cultural and religious events which are common to other European countries. April 30 is celebrated as Queen’s Day here since it commemorates the birthday of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands who reigned from 1948 to 1980, when she abdicated voluntarily in favor of her daughter, Beatrix.
The Queen and her family pay official visits to at least two towns on this day. The Dutch National Anthem is played across the country; people fly the tricolor and decorate their houses with the orange ensign of the royal house of Orange. Many towns also hold fairs at which families put up stalks and sell off their unwanted odds and ends, reflecting the national passion for recycling.

Remembrance Day

Another important public holiday is Remembrance Day held on May 4 when the Dutch honor those killed in the Second World War and thereafter. On this day, flags are flown at half-mast and memorial services held across the country. A commemorative service is held at the National Monument on Dam square in Amsterdam, with speeches and the laying of wreaths. Every municipality commemorates Remembrance Day in its own way at eight in the evening, a two-minute silence is observed in remembrance of civilians and soldiers who have died in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world since the outbreak of World War II, both in war situations and in peacekeeping missions

Liberation Day

Yet another nationalist occasion is the Liberation Day held the day after on May 5 which commemorates the liberation of the Netherlands by Allied Forces in 1945. Once every five years, Liberation Day is celebrated on a grand scale in Amsterdam and the twelve provincial capitals with Liberation Day festivals. The next large-scale celebration is slated to take place in 2015. Popular events are the Liberation Day Pop Festival in Haarlem and the Liberation Day Festival in Wageningen in Gelderland.

National Windmill Day

This festival marks one of the most popular symbols of Dutch cultural landscape, the windmill. On the second Saturday in May, many of the country’s functional windmills fly a blue pennant and are open to the public, often with demonstrations.

Vlaggetjesdag

Known as Vlaggetjesdag here, ‘Flag Day’,  falls on the second Saturday of June each year. On this day tens of thousands of people celebrate the start of herring season at Scheveningen Harbor in The Hague. In the past, the celebration centered solely on the putting out to sea of the herring fleets, but, nowadays, celebrations focus on the arrival of the ‘new herring catch’ in the country. All fishing fleets tie up in Scheveningen Harbor decked with flags and there is a race for the boats to venture into the sea. Visitors have fun eating their fill of herring with their hands or in a roll and generally taking part in the revelries which include music and dancing too.

State Opening of Parliament

Though not a public holiday, the State Opening of the Parliament is nevertheless a festive event in the Dutch life.  Held on the third Tuesday of September each year, on this day the Queen addresses a joint session of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament in the Ridderzaal. During the speeches, the government announces its plans for the coming year. Large crowds line the route taken by the Royal Procession to catch a glimpse of the Queen riding in the Golden Coach from her palace to the Binnenhof.

St Nicholas’ Eve

Even in cultures where Christmas not a major festival is, people still know the day because of the hugely popular figure of Santa Claus whose origin is in fact the Dutch Sinterklaas. On St Nicholas’ Day, celebrated on December 5, Sinterklaas visits the major towns, riding a white horse and accompanied by his servants, the Black Peters, who throw sweet to the children and play music. In the days leading to St. Nicholas’ Eve, children put out a shoe when they go to bed in the hope that Sinterklaas will fill it up with sweets. The most anticipated moment comes on St Nicholas’ Eve which is known as ‘pakjesavond’ in Dutch meaning ‘present evening’ when gifts are exchanged and opened. These are often accompanied by a poem, supposedly written by Sinterklaas or his assistants describing the good and traits of the recipient’s character.

Christmas

Though toned down in jollity as compared to celebrations of St Nicholas Day, Christmas is nevertheless observed with devotion and family bonding in the Netherlands. On Christmas Eve, 24 December, Christians attend church mass services. Most homes have a Christmas tree with lights and gifts underneath and prepare a special dinner of rabbit or pheasant.  Stollen, a sweet yeast bread filled with almond paste and raisins is another Christmas delicacy that is eaten and prepared in many Dutch homes. Besides these, traditional Christmas markets are also organized throughout the country which people visit on Christmas Day with friends and family.