Hans Jansen aims to play piano at each of the 16 pianos in Dutch train stations on Tuesday. He started in Maastricht at 5:00 a.m., and if all goes well, will end in Leeuwarden at 11:20 p.m. "I hope that today, 22 May, will be proclaimed the Day of the Station Piano", he said to broadcaster NOS.
Jansen has been playing piano as a hobby for some time now. His idea for this record attempt came to him after a video of him playing a cover of Wicked Games at the Zwolle train station went viral.
Dutch singer Waylon made it through to the Eurovision Song Contest finals on Thursday. He along with 25 other artists will represent their countries in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, NU.nl reports.
The Outlaw in 'Em - singer will take the stage in the second half of the finals. "It was kind of stressful, but we are incredibly happy", Waylon said in a first reaction at a press conference on Friday.
"It is a fantastic party and I find Groningen a fantastic city", King Willem-Alexander said to NOS during the King's Day festivities in Groningen on Thursday. "Much thanks to Groningen, it is really a cool city", Queen Maxima added.
The Royal Family spent King Willem-Alexander's 51st birthday in Groningen. Thousands of people gathered in the city to see the Royals and enjoy the festivities Groningen arranged.
Amsterdam always goes big for King's Day, and today is no exception with five big parties, a number of smaller events and flea markets across the city.
Below see a compilation of photos of the goings on in the Dutch capital on King's Day 2018.
King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, and princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane are on their way to celebrate King's Day in Groningen.
"On our way to a sunny King's Day in Groningen. We are looking forward to it", the King said with a photo released on Twitter.
King Willem-Alexander turns 51 years old today.
Excitement is mounting in Groningen as people line the streets, waiting for the Royal Family to arrive.
King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their three daughters are set to arrive at 11:00 a.m. Other members of the Royal Family attending the festivities in Groningen include Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien, the King's cousins Princes Maurits, Bernhard, Pieter-Christiaan and Floris, and their wives. Princes Anita, Prince Pieter-Christiaan's wife, will not be there because she is sick, according to NOS.
The Red Cross advices King's Day celebrators drinking alcohol to remember to also eat well. Every year Red Cross first aid workers treat many people who get into trouble due to alcohol consumption in combination with little food and fatigue, the Telegraaf reports.
The aid organization also advises partiers to wear comfortable shoes on King's Day to prevent blisters.
There will be first aid posts at most events throughout the Netherlands, for people who do need help. The Red Cross is present in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Den Bosch, among others.
"Weather or no weather, King's Day in Amsterdam will again be a big party for young and old this year with flea markets throughout the city, live music on smaller venues and big parties on the outskirts of the city", the city of Amsterdam said in a press release on Thursday. The municipality released some advice, tips and warnings, to make sure everyone celebrating King's Day in the Dutch capital will have an enjoyable day.
King Willem-Alexander and his family will spend King's Day in Groningen on Friday. The weather is expected to be largely cloudy and relatively cold with afternoon temperatures around 15 to 16 degrees. No rain is expected, but a jacket is advised, according to Weeronline.
Four popular online PC games violate the Netherlands' law on games of chance with their 'loot boxes', according to the Dutch Gambling Authority. These games should actually have a license, like a casino needs a license for a roulette table, because there is a risk of gambling addiction, the Authority said, the Volkskrant reports.
Visitors to amusement park Efteling spent 20 minutes stuck on roller coaster Baron 1898 on Monday morning. The ride stalled just before the train made its first plunge, RTL Nieuws reports.
The park's emergency workers had to evacuate the visitors off the roller coaster, an Efteling spokesperson said to RTL Nieuws.
According to the spokesperson, Baron 1898 is equipped with many sensitive sensors, which stops the ride "out of precaution" if all is not right. This is not the first time it happens, she said.
NTR, responsible for Sinterklaas' arrival in the Netherlands every year, hasn't received any requests from Dutch municipalities to host the event this year, according to a letter the broadcaster sent the Dutch Association of Mayors, NU.nl reports.
Every year the public broadcaster receives requests from various municipalities who want to organize the event. But by March 7th, when the letter was sent, their hadn't been a single one.
Last year a massive 5.18 million people visited amusement park Efteling, compared to 4.76 million in 2016. The park in Kaatsheuvel is pleased that it reached the "magic line" of 5 million visitors, a goal Efteling has been aiming at since 2014, NU.nl reports.
Efteling attributes the increase in visitors to investments in new family attraction Symbolica and holiday park Efteling Loonsche Land.
Netflix is working on a Netherlands original series that is fully funded by the American company and will be exclusively available on Netflix.
"There is a Dutch original. We are busy with it", Allie Goss, Vice President Originals at Netflix, said to broadcaster NOS. How much Netflix is investing in this production, what it is about and when it will be released, she would not say.
The three Dutch nominated for Oscars all went home disappointed on Sunday. Fantasy drama The Shape of Water by director Guillermo del Toro walked away the biggest winner of the evening, taking four Oscars, according to Vox.com.
American comedian Seth Meyers will give a special performance at the celebration of popular Amsterdam theater group Boom Chicago's 25th birthday. The celebration will be held in the Carre theater in Amsterdam on July 14th.
Other performances that night include Andrew Moskos, Pep Rosenfeld, Ike Barinholz, Amber Ruffin, Ruben van der Meer, Jeka van Houten, Wilko Terwijn and Horace Cohen. More names will be announced soon.
Tickets are already available, costing between 25 and 65 euros.
Kjeld Nuis has conquered his second gold medal of the Winter Games on the 1000 meters, the eighth Dutch gold at this year's Olympics. With a time of 1 minute and 7.95 seconds, the Dutchman was just fast enough to best Norwegian Havard Lorentzen who took silver.
The time difference between first and second place was a shocking 4 hundredths of a second. The South Korean Tae-Yun Kim took the bronze.
In order to prevent the local film industry form being wiped out by foreign movies and series, entertainment distributors serving the Netherlands market should financially support more Dutch productions, the Raad voor Cultuur stated in a report. The top government advisory board for culture and the arts said those companies should also be forced to pay a tax on its income derived from Netherlands consumers to support the entertainment industry there.
American actor Samuel L. Jackson praised a parody video made by Dutch TV show Zondag met Lubach about the United States' national rifle association NRA. The video, made in October 2017, rebrands the NRA as nonsensical rifle addiction, and describes the large number of gun deaths in the U.S. as a humanitarian disaster caused by this disease.
The Dutch embassy in the United States invited American TV host Katie Couric to visit the Netherlands so that she can see "all the innovative ways the Dutch get around". This follows Couric saying that the Dutch are good at speed skating because they skate to work.
Canadian comedian Russell Peters and American comedian Kevin Hart will both be performing in Amsterdam this year.
The Ziggo Dome is on Peters' schedule for April 30th, according to Carbaret Info. This show forms part of his 'Deported World Tour', which takes him to 34 countries across the world. This is Peters' third visit to the Netherlands. In 2013 his show in the AFAS Live sold out completely. Presale of tickets for the Ziggo Dome show in April starts on Friday. Ticket prices range between 40 euros and 54 euros.
Club NYX in Amsterdam decided to change the door policy for its SLEAZY party after facing a large amount of criticism. On Facebook the event page read that entry for the party is 7 euros, but women with bra cup size DD can get in for free. Together with the organizers of the party, the club decided to charge everyone entry.
The Red Cross calls on Carnival celebrators to dress warmly in the coming days. The cold weather combined with alcohol consumption can quickly lead to hypothermia, according to the aid organization, NU.nl reports.
A study by the Red Cross revealed that only about a third of Dutch can recognize all symptoms of hypothermia immediately. So the aid organization decided to share tips on how to avoid it.
Ticket sales for the five big events in Amsterdam on King's Day kicked off on Thursday. In addition to the five big parties, there will also be numerous flea markets and smaller parties spread throughout the city on Kings Day, April 27th, the city announced.
The five big parties are Loveland van Oranje in Meerpark, Oranjebloesem on Pampuslaan, Kingsland Festival in the RAI, Apenkooi Koninginnedag in Olympisch Gebied and Urban Music Festival on Turbinestraat.
