We Interrupt Our Italy Travelogue For - Queen's Day

April 30th was Queen's Day which is supposed to be a celebration of the Queen's birthday. However, it is not the anniversary of that special day for the current Queen. It is in fact the birthdate of her grandmother, I believe. Why would the Dutch celebrate their monarch's birthday on a day not her own? You'll see the very practical reason when you hear what occurs on this holiday.

The first thing to happen is the town, homes and people become festooned with flags and orange. Orange hats, orange shoes, orange scarves, even orange tails. The Dutch flag may be red, white and blue, but the national color is Orange!




The next thing to occur is a parade through town. Businesses have entries, kid's groups are the biggest participants with floats improvised from semi trucks with the fabric sides raised. Each one had a theme. Some themes seemed actually related to the club the kids belonged to. Mostly they were just cute!






Then the individual kids festoon their bikes with orange streamers and playing cards attached with clothes pins. They wear costumes and show off their skating, gymnastic, water-squirting skills.

















There are the funny and charming vehicles that make their appearance. This three-wheel thingy had to pull over when it stalled. They restarted it by pulling on a rope, just like lawn mowers used to!


And of course, you have to have marching bands!















It all reminds me somehow of small town America. Maybe small towns are kinda the same everywhere.




Maybe not exactly the same.






Then there is this uniquely Dutch band. Yes, they are actually playing while they ride through town.

















After the parade the town has, what amounts to a huge yard sale. This is the one day when you do not have to pay taxes on what you buy, so folks clean out their closets and sell their extras. Our town had a car rally and music playing downtown in the town hall square as well.

So what does this have to do with celebrating the Queen's birthday, not on her birthday? The current Queen's birthday is January 31st. Not exactly a time of year conducive to any outdoor activities, so the Dutch, being a practical people, decided to keep the previous date since it was a nicer time of year.