Today is Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day here in The Netherlands, a national holiday that celebrates the birthday of Queen Beatrix. Never mind that her actual birthday is in January — she very graciously kept the holiday on the date of her mother’s birthday when she ascended the throne so that people would not have to celebrate in the cold and dark and rain of winter. And celebrate they do! The day is a combination of the Fourth of July, The Minnesota State Fair, and National Night Out. Throw in the world’s largest garage sale and millions of people wearing orange (the queen’s color) and you start to get the picture.

The festivities actually start the night before–informally known as “Queen’s Night” — where those so inclined head enmasse to bars and clubs for a night of revelry and heavy drinking. I suspect the morning of Queen’s Day rivals New Year’s Day for hangovers per capita. We chose to lay low that night, going to bed early in order to get up and start fresh the next day.

We met up with some Australian friends also experiencing their first Queen’s Day and quickly discovered a country completely dedicated to free enterprise. Along all the major streets and public parks every square inch of sidewalk was occupied with vendors selling the contents of their attics, garages and basements. A pre-holiday survey suggested that people expected to sell close to 300 million dollars worth of second-hand goods. Since this is the only day of the year these types of sales are allowed, competition for prime spots can be fierce. Despite laws banning it, people start marking off sections of sidewalk with chalk or tape days before, like people who show up at parades back home hours in advance, placing their picnic blanket and folding lawn chairs on the curb to reserve their spots.

All this commercial activity is not restricted to adults either. Certain sections of town are reserved exclusively for children, including a huge park a few blocks from our house. In addition to selling vast quantities of outgrown toys, these budding entrepreneurs also offer home-made baked goods and candies, cleverly constructed games of chance (imagine a pinball machine made of cardboard and sewing pins), face painting and hair coloring (orange, of course) and pass the hat for live musical and dance performances.

By afternoon, the selling begins to wane a bit; it’s time for bargain hunters intent on picking up a few things to ooh and ahh about before stashing them in the attic to sell next year. It’s also time for concerts and block parties to begin. We were told that every band in the country, no matter how professional or polished would be playing somewhere on Queen’s Day.

It’s all incredibly crowded and chaotic, but loads of fun. As we walked home from our last street party, Katie remarked that this was her best Queen’s Day ever. Realizing this was her first Queen’s Day ever, she started to qualify the comment, hesitated, then shook her head and said, “No, this IS my best Queen’s Day ever.”