April 30th is Queen's Day, a national holiday in the Netherlands to celebrate the Queen's Birthday, and there are over 30 celebrations for orange clad Dutch expats and immigrants throughout the United States.
In collaboration with NLBorrels we present a list with all Queen's Day celebrations throughout the USA: see the event page here. Note that the events organized by the Dutch Embassy in Washington and the Dutch Consulates require an RSVP by tomorrow. Almost all events have an orange dress code.
San Francisco's Union Square in orange
Nathalie d'Adelhart Toorop, the assistant to the Netherlands Consul General San Francisco, is coordinating, together with a committee of volunteers from the Bay Area Dutch community, a large Queen's Day celebration on Union Square. The program includes a performance by the Princess Christina Concours winners, a beergarden and live music. Dutch food like cheese and pastries will be on sale, and for the children there will be a vrijmarkt and various events. A highlight is a guided bike tour from the Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park to Union Square and a guided Dutch Design bicycle tour (more info at SFDutch.com). In the evening there are celebrations in the Supperclub and by NLBorrels in Azul, a night club.
"Our inspiration for an event at Union Square was the Indonesian Day that has been organized the last 15 years", says Nathalie. "Our Deputy Consul General Jaap Veerman represented the Netherlands there and really liked the atmosphere."
The World Cup celebrations at the Civic Center were another great stimulus. Says Nathalie: "The San Francisco Parks and Recreation commission are enthusiast about this event because of the good experiences with the Dutch parties at the Civic Center."
"It's great to be able to celebrate Queen's Day like this, and share it with the people of San Francisco".
KDNY'11 in New York City
Since 2002 NLBorrels has organized the largest Queen's Day event in the United States, in a midtown Manhattan club.
NLBorrels New York organized the first party in a big Irish pub in 2002 when unexpectedly close to 400 people showed up. What started as a fluke has grown into a huge yearly event, drawing crowds of more than 1,000 Dutchies, friends & partners, serving typical Dutch foods like bitterballen and ample beer.
Sander Raaymakers, founder of NLBorrels: "We're looking forward to paint Manhattan orange again; ticket sales this year are moving very fast."
Other chapters of NLBorrels also organize local Queen's Day events, including in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, as well as many cities abroad. At last count, the member database of NLBorrels comprised of over 15,000 Dutch expats in 80+ countries.
May 4th and May 5th
On May 4th, Dutch Remembrance Day, there will be a ceremony at the Netherlands Carillon in Washington D.C., followed by a Liberation Ball in California in honor of Dutch Liberation Day.