January 1 -> New Year’s Day
On January 1, the new year starts with a dip in icy water, for example, with the traditional “New Year’s Dive” on the beach of Scheveningen.

February -> Carnival
In February the carnival is celebrated in many southern provinces. Carnival is originally a Catholic feast, which possibly has pagan roots and is celebrated in the three days preceding Ash Wednesday. The traditionally dressed parties and parades provide lots of fun.

April -> Easter
Search for Easter eggs at Easter is a very popular tradition in the Netherlands. The traditional Easter breakfast includes matzoth with butter and sugar.

April 27 -> King’s Day
In 2013, Willem-Alexander succceeded his mother Queen Beatrix and since then the Netherlands has a king. King’s Day is now celebrated on April 27, the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. The feast is celebrated throughout the country and everything and everyone is decorated in orange, the color of the Dutch royal family, the “House of Orange”.

4 and 5 May -> Remembrance Day and Liberation Day
The Remembrance Day is on May 4th. All over the country special ceremonies are held to remember the civilians and military personnel who had become victims of wars and commemorate military peacekeeping missions. On May 5 the Liberation Day is celebrated with concerts and festivals, such as Bevrijdingspop in Haarlem.

December 5 -> Sinterklaas
The feast of Saint Nicholas ie Sinterklaas is celebrated on December 5th. In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas is much more important than Christmas (especially for children). This is mainly because the “holy night” or Christmas Eve is not celebrated so widely in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands the year ends with New Year’s Eve. The donuts (‘oliebollen’) are on the table and at twelve o’clock there are lots of fireworks.