Dr. Oetker Stories
King's Day in the Netherlands: Completely in Orange
Koningsdag is a national holiday in the Netherlands that is celebrated with special traditions. Dr. Oetker products in orange is one of them...
21.4.2023 • Company and Culture
When it's Koningsdag in the Netherlands, the whole country lights up in orange. Dr. Oetker also joins in with orange recipes and baking mixes. Our Dutch colleagues gave us an insight into how they celebrate in the Netherlands.
King's Day in the Netherlands
King's Day is every year on the 27th of April and marks the Birthday of the Dutch King Willem-Alexander. For a long time the day was called Queens Day, but since Queen Beatrix passed over the throne to prince Willem Alexander, the name was changed into King's Day.
What's happening on Koningsdag?
Street festivals, boat trips, dancing events and flee markets – King's Day is celebrated in the whole country. People from all corners of the Netherlands gather to celebrate the king. The color is defined: from tie to dress, from decorations to sweets, everything has to be orange. The color has a long tradition as the symbol of the royal family: King Willem-Alexander and his mother Beatrix are descendants of the reigning house Orange-Nassau. Therefore the slogan of the day, that is sung loud and happily is: Oranje boven, oranje boven, leve de koning.
Orange all over
Orange is not only the dress code of the day or seen on the street, it is also the main color for food and sweets. The supermarkets sell orange products, the streets are decorated in orange and games are played, such as “koekhappen”, which literally is translated as “cake bites”, where pieces of a cake hang on a string while you try to eat them without using your hands.
All Dutch are on the streets
Of course the royal family participates in the public celebrations. While the day is celebrated over the whole country, the royal family visits different cities each year. There they attend the games and festivals and celebrate Dutch traditions with the citizens. Because Dutch people are off-duty on this national holiday, they visit the festivals, organize picknicks and take part in boat trips. Our colleagues from Dr. Oetker Netherlands celebrate King's Day – as well in Amersfoort, where the Dutch affiliate has its administration as also in Leeuwarden where the production site is located.
Dr. Oetker and King's Day
Traditionally, Dutch people eat cakes, donuts and muffins glazed in orange icing, topped with orange or red, white and blue sprinkles, inspired by the national flag.
Especially for King's Day there are various orange products to buy – also from Dr. Oetker - products such as orange Glace and the Netherland Sprinkle Mix belong to the favorites.
The Dr. Oetker colleagues from the Netherlands have put together orange recipes especially for Koningsdag. Bake them now.
