- Title: Dutch celebrate King's birthday
- Date: 27th April 2016
- Summary: GIRL PLAYING SAXOPHONE NEAR CANAL STALLS SELLING USED CLOTHES ON BRIDGE GIRL DRESSED IN ORANGE PLAYING VIOLIN
- Embargoed: 11th May 2016 14:00
- Keywords: birthday celebration parade Beatrix King Willem Alexander
- Location: ZWOLLE AND AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
- City: ZWOLLE AND AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Royals
- Reuters ID: LVA0044F5AQ87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Crowds celebrated the 49th birthday of the Netherlands' king Willem-Alexander on Wednesday (April 27).
The royal family paid a visit to the central city of Zwolle, greeting well-wishers, many of whom were decked in orange, the national colour.
The king or queen's birthday has been celebrated in the Netherlands for over 130 years, previously to honour the three queens in succession - Wilhelmina, Juliana and Beatrix, mother of Willem-Alexander.
Cold weather overnight resulted in smaller crowds coming out to celebrate the national holiday.
But it did not dampen the mood in Amsterdam, where like in the rest of the Netherlands, families carried out the tradition of putting up stalls to sell various items.
The King's Day is the only day in the year when the Dutch are not required to pay taxes on their revenues.
A popular practice was to buy a can of beer in the supermarket and sell it for double or triple the price in front of the same shop.
Residents set up stalls outside their homes or in a nearby park, selling homemade goods or second hand items cleared from their attic.
Iris, a mother, was selling books at her doorstep.
"In the Netherlands there is only one day a year that you are allowed to sell what you want. So everybody brings all their toys out, right, and all the books we have and clothes we have and we try to sell it and people are buying like crazy," Iris said.
Some foreigners even came to participate in the selling spree.
"We came here for King's Day, we love the atmosphere. After several years of being spectators, we thought it would be a good idea to be among the sellers. We prepared quiche which are typically French, such as quiche Lorraine, with bacon," said Jerome Gonthier, who traveled from France.
The national holiday was known as Queen's Day until 2013, when Queen Beatrix abdicated and her son Willem-Alexander became the King, changing the date from 30th of April to 27th of April, to coincide with his birthday. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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