Big plans are in place across Amsterdam as the city gets ready to celebrate King Willem-Alexander's 52nd birthday with parties, eight large festivals, and flea markets. Here follows a summary of the events in Amsterdam tomorrow, with hundreds of thousands of people planning to visit the city from around the Netherlands.
Note that none of the large festivals are selling tickets at the door, you need to buy your ticket online beforehand.
Residents of and visitors to Amsterdam may have to take an alternative route when moving about the city on King's Day today. Parts of the city are blocked off to car traffic, and public transit in the capital are running on adjusted schedules and alternative routes.
After months of preparations, King's Day is only one day away and Amersfoort is just about ready to receive King Willem-Alexander and his family on his birthday. The city center, which the Royals will tour through on Saturday, is covered in flags and the final stages are being built along the route, Metro Nieuws reports.
King's Day is a big deal in the Netherlands and especially in Amsterdam, where multiple parties are held on the day to celebrate King Willem-Alexander's birthday. But you don't have to wait for tomorrow to start celebrating, with various King's Night parties ready to get you into the King's Day spirit on Friday night.
Here follows an overview of King's Night parties in Amsterdam tonight, compiled by NU.nl.
While the majority of Dutch still find King's Day a fun party, four in ten people say that they are not a fan of the holiday on King Willem-Alexander's birthday, according to a study by Acties.nl among 1,025 Dutch people, RTL Nieuws reports
The 44th edition of the Paaspop festival in Schijndel attracted a total of 90 thousand people this weekend, breaking its previous record of 81 thousand dating from last year. Some 11 thousand people made use of the festival campsite this year, Omroep Brabant reports.
The increase has to do with the expansion of the festival's capacity. This enabled the festival to accommodate an additional 3 thousand people per day, according to the broadcaster.
Around 20 thousand people attended the ninth edition The Passion play in Dordrecht on Thursday evening. The modern retelling of the final hours of Jesus' life happened without incident. The police only arrested one man, for flying a drone above the crowd, RTL Nieuws and NU.nl report.
Mumford & Sons will be giving two performances in Amsterdam on May 9th. One show will be in the Ziggo Dome. The second will be at a still secret location, and can only be attended by the person who wins a NPO 3FM competition, and 50 of his or her friends.
Multiple municipalities in the east of the Netherlands decided to ban the traditional Easter bonfires this weekend. Sparks from the bonfires can lead to wildfires, and due to the drought there is a greater risk of these wildfires spreading rapidly and getting out of control, NU.nl reports.
The Dutch animated short film Kop Op won the Emmy Kids Award in the animation category. The makers at animation studio Job, Joris & Marieke accepted the award in Cannes. They are delighted with the win, they said on Instagram.
Kop Op is about three friends with different cultural backgrounds that have to spend a day living each others' lives after finding a magical washing machine that switched their heads. The three friends were voiced by Nasrdin Dchar, Steye van Dam and Paulien Cornelisse.
The municipality of Amersfoort is scrapping a fine of up to 25 thousand euros for those who reveal information about the King's Day celebrations in the city later this month, mayor Lucas Bolsuis said to RTV Utrecht on Sunday.
April 1st has long been a day dedicated to fooling, tricking or pranking one another, and as always Dutch businesses stepped up to the challenge this year. With April Fool's day falling on a Monday, a number of businesses already launched their gags last week and over the weekend. Here are a few of the best, found by Marketing Facts.
Clothing manufacturer Hunkemöller is apparently launching a range of Dogkinis - bikinis for dogs, so that you can take photos with your furry friend on the beach, according to an ad posted on YouTube.
A novel new attraction will soon be opening in Amsterdam. Multi-sensory adult cinema 5D Porn is opening its doors in the Red Light District. A world first, according to owner Nathalie.
People attending the Dutch Comic Con in Utrecht this weekend will not be allowed to bring prop weapons to the event in De Jaarbeurs. The organization is increasing security following a shooting on 24 Oktoberplein in which three people were killed on Monday, RTL Nieuws reports.
A popular part of Comic Con is cosplay - dressing up as your favorite character from film, video game or series. While a prop weapon may be an important part of many character costumes, they will no longer be allowed due to the events on Monday, the organization said.
A performance by rapper Drake in Amsterdam on April 23rd has been canceled, according to the Ziggo Dome website. According to an email ticket holders received, the performance was canceled due to "changes in the tour schedule", AD reports.
The two other shows Drake has scheduled for Amsterdam on April 25th and 26th, have been moved to April 15th and 16th, according to Ziggo site. The reason for these changes is unclear.
Drake is visiting the Netherlands as part of his The Assassination Vacation Tour.
Under the slogan 'We, Amersfoort', Amersfoort plans to show off how diverse the city and the region is during King's Day on April 27th. King Willem-Alexander and his family will celebrate his 52nd birthday in Amersfoort this year, NOS reports.
British band The Prodigy canceled all its upcoming shows after the death of lead singer Keith Flint. That includes their planned performance at the Lowlands festival in Biddinghuizen. The 49-year-old singer was found dead in his home in Essex on Monday. He took his own life, RTL Nieuws reports.
The band announced the cancellation of their tour on social media on Tuesday. The Prodigy planned to tour the United States in May and then Europe in the Summer.
The organizers of the Lowlands festival said on Instagram that they understand the decision.
NH Radio decided to boycott music by Michael Jackson for the time being, in connection with controversial documentary Leaving Neverland which will be broadcast in the Netherlands on Friday, NH Nieuws said on its website.
In the documentary, Michael Jackson is accused of sexually abusing Wade Robson and James Safechuck, two men who belonged to the American singer's inner circle of friends. They tell in detail how Jackson abused them for years as children.
The R. Kelly concert scheduled in Amsterdam next month has been cancelled, the venue The Box announced in a statement on Monday. Kelly was arrested in Chicago on February 22, where he faces ten counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were underage at the time.
Strong winds had a major impact on air traffic at Schiphol Airport on Monday. Over a hundred flights were canceled, and hundreds more were delayed.
Amsterdam venue The Box removed an R. Kelly concert scheduled for April from its website. The link which used to give details about the concert now only reads "page not found". The event is still scheduled to take place, as the concert promoter has not yet canceled it, the venue confirmed to NL Times.
The Amsterdam venue booked for an R. Kelly concert in April now says it wants the event scrapped following the musician's arrest in Chicago on Friday. A judge in Cook County, Illinois set Kelly's bond at $1 million the next day after a prosecutor laid out details of 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four female victims, three of whom were between 13 and 17 years of age.
Teachers and pupils at a secondary school in Veenendaal were shocked to find out that five new pupils at the school weren't high school kids at all, but actors placed at the school for a television program, De Volksrkant reports. Recordings for the RTL 4 program, called Klasse, have since been halted.
The Christelijk Lyceum Veenendaal (CLV) management organized a meeting in which the school admitted that it was aware that the five new pupils were actors. But the teachers and pupils had no idea and the revelation caused quite a bit of unrest last week, according to the newspaper.
The painters of Voorschoten painting company Zitman & Co may soon have to trade in their paintbrushes for the stage. For a laugh they recorded a carnival number and posted it on social media, where it was viewed almost 200 thousand times.
