Sun shines on Zwolle as royal family drops in for King's Day

Zwolle was lucky enough to have some sunshine on Wednesday as the royal family dropped in to take part in the city's King's Day festivities. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and all three their daughters participated in the program the city organized to celebrate the King's 49th birthday. The royal family was greeted by Zwolle Mayor Henk Jan Meijer on the Nieuwe Haven bridge around 11:00 a.m. Then followed a four part program which included a cultural-history exhibition, a parade, a sports presentation and a boat trip on the city's canal. The royal family seemed to enjoy the entire entrancing program. At one point King Willem-Alexander looked up to the press, as if in surprise, and said: "Hi, are you here too?".  But the highlight for princesses Amalia, Arianne and Alexia was clearly the closing performance by rapper Typhoon. Even princess Alexia, who hurt her leg in a skiing accident in February, showed her moves - dancing and clapping with her family to the music. The King Thanked Zwolle for a "fantastic day". "Many thanks. You've done a fantastic job", he said, according to AD.

Koninklijke Familie kijkt naar Parade ‘Proef de smaken van Zwolle’ #KoningsdagZwolle pic.twitter.com/yvuxtG2IHM

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) April 27, 2016

Vaartocht door Thorbeckegracht #KoningsdagZwolle pic.twitter.com/Tif22u1Y0X

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) April 27, 2016

Op het Rodetorenplein worden sportclinics gegeven #KoningsdagZwolle pic.twitter.com/CuE3Iux0C7

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) April 27, 2016

In the rest of the country, King's Day is somewhat quieter than usual due to the cold weather. Compared to previous King's Days, Amsterdam's city center is almost a ghost town, a spokesperson for the municipality said to NU.nl. "We suspect that it will get going later", he said. "The street markets are pretty buy, but there are less people than previous years around this time." The large festivals are still expecting many visitors. Kingsland at RAI in Amsterdam sold 35 thousand tickets, 538Koningsdag in Breda sold 40 thousand and SLAM! in Alkmaar sold all 27,500 tickets the event had available.