Rotterdam Goes Orange: Celebrating King's Day 2023 in Style!

Welcome to our video of King's Day (Koningsdag) 2023 in Rotterdam! Every year on April 27th, the Dutch celebrate the birthday of their king with a nationwide party full of orange-colored festivities. And this year, we're taking you to one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in the Netherlands to experience it firsthand.
In this video, you'll see the streets of Rotterdam transformed into a sea of orange as people of all ages and backgrounds come together to enjoy live music, street performances, and markets. We'll also show you the many ways in which the Dutch express their national pride and unity, from wearing orange clothing and accessories to singing national anthems and cheering for the royal family. And of course, we'll indulge in some of the typical King's Day treats, such as tompouce, and Dutch beer.
Whether you're a local or a visitor, King's Day in Rotterdam is a day you won't forget. So sit back, relax, and join us for a colorful and joyful celebration of Dutch culture and tradition. Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell to stay tuned for more videos like this one!
You can follow our friends, Soul to Souls Travels here: / @soultosoultravels
00:00 Fijne Koningsdag!
01:10 Treasure Hunting at the Market
05:59 Seeing the King!
09:58 King's Day Celebration
12:09 Thoughts on King's Day 2023
14:21 Sleepy Tabasco
If you like our video please subscribe for more food, travel, and life as an ex-pat! / tandtgodutch
We're Tracey and Travis, an American couple who moved with our Miniature Husky, Tabasco, from our home in Houston, Texas to the city of Leiden, The Netherlands. We love food, travel, history, and exploring our new home. We love sharing our adventures all around The Netherlands with you!
If you'd like to see more:
The vlog continues on Instagram! Follow us @tandtgodutch
Or, visit our Facebook page: tandtgodutch

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Tell us who won the market contest!

[@mariadebake5483]

Tammy and Eric did, with the time telling. Telling the time in Dutch is rather difficult for English speakers, and knowing the time is important to us because you want to keep your appointments. You have to be on time.

[@MissVindicat]

Ooooh, I was on the fence but then I saw the champagne flutes. They’re gorgeous! I’ll vote for T and T.

[@dehaan714]

T&T won the challenge, love the cristal glasses 😍 and of course because you have afgepingeld 🤑

[@duizeltjeeekhoorn6890]

I think it is a tie. Both of you got nice items. I love Tammy's book. and the champagne flutes are a steal!

[@erikmulder2574]

The dog won, he got cuddles 🥰

[@SoultoSoulTravels]

We had such a great day!! Thank you for allowing us to tag along with you❤❤!!

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Spending time with y’all is the best! 🧡👑🇳🇱🍻

[@sylviasmits9275]

I gess I owe you a t-shirt Eric.

[@SoultoSoulTravels]

@@sylviasmits9275 lol!!!🥰

[@nielsabbas7166]

I love to see you with the Orange colours blend in with the local dutch people. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@miepski]

Great to see S2S and T&T celebrate Kingsday together!

[@LindaCasey]

I made the grave error of meeting my cousin in Amsterdam on Koninginnedag once .. it was one of the scariest moments of my life when I stepped off of the train into a sea of orange sardines .. thankfully two very tall Dutch boys formed a circle around me with their arms and I was able to make it to my cousin's hotel in one piece. 😶‍🌫

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Yikes! That does sound scary!

[@TerrenceWeijnschenk]

It's why I personally avoid the most crowded places and just circle the outer rings basically. As I'm only 4ft7”, I can't see much in the center of the city on Kingsday anyway. Glad you got through okay! And hopefully now you can laugh at tourists renting a bike 'because cycling is the best way to get around Amsterdam' but have to walk all day with the bike by their hand, trying to squeeze through the masses. 😉

[@LindaCasey]

@@TerrenceWeijnschenk 🤣Inderdaad!🤣

[@Ozymandias1]

I was there when there were riots on Queens Day in 2001. Just about made it out of the city before they broke out. Up till that it was great, just missed the bits where it went ugly by a hair’s breadth by running up to the last train that left in the day. It’s the only time I’ve been to the one in Amsterdam.

[@TerrenceWeijnschenk]

A horrifying experience it was! Glad you got out okay. Yes, people panicked because it was so extremely crowded with over three times as many people out in the streets than inhabitants (something similar recently happened in a few cities in Brabant for the celebration of Carnaval), so coming years the government made sure people could celebrate Queensday/Kingsday in other towns and cities as well. I think one of the things what they did was to move a popular Queensday music festival from Amsterdam to another city. Attended by some 100,000 people, I think. So that helped a bit. If you ever want to try again, you can stay over at my place; I live just outside the city center and would love for you to have a better experience than you had last time. 🖖

[@ilenemckenna3909]

I would say you guys won the contest. By using your negotiating skills you where able to buy more with the 10 euro limit.

[@Dutchbelg3]

Best friends in the Netherlands.. OK but can I be your best friend in Belgium? I am sorry to hear Eric lost his marbles.. Tammy won with the game to learn to tell time in Dutch! Because time is a very important thing in the Netherlands! You don't want to be late! Clearly you all had a marvelous time at Koningsdag 🙂 Great to see this video 🙂

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Of course you can! 🧡

[@MarionKamp1978]

I liked the coffeetable book. Telling time, you will learn, 😂. @SoultoSoulTravels

[@daring2godutch673]

I could benefit from the time game Tammy and Eric bought! I am always LATE😂😂😂

[@RivMark643]

Tracy and Travis win, IMHO!

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Thanks for watching!

[@serialgkiller]

💙Rotterdam

[@alicia.3740]

What a nice video, it's always gezellig when you guys get together. As far as the contest is concerned, I can't choose because you all bought nice things. And Tabasco is so cute, what a sweetheart.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Thank you so much for your kind words! We were so proud how well behaved he was for us.

[@annettes6775]

Utrecht is the place to be.. You even have a Kingsnight, the night before

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Definitely on the agenda for next year. Thanks for the tip!

[@Iamsanni]

You have that in a lot of cities nowadays..

[@Paul_C]

For me the clock book was the winner!

[@marcozwaan5743]

Nice to see you all had a nice kingsday. We also went to Rotterdam but not for the king and his family. We saw them on television. We went too go to the markest around Eendrachtplein. See some bands playing, watching the people and off corse enjoy the sun and having a drink. Kingsday is allways nice in Rotterdam.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Sounds like such a lovely day! We really had the most perfect weather.

[@Lilygirl283]

Love both your channels, glad you had a great day!

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Such a lovely King’s Day, thank you for watching!

[@kikidoove9456]

Green is the collor of Rotterdam, Máxima onnerd that By wearing green

[@jeremyoliviervoice]

Tracy and Travis won the contest with the glasses. Maybe with the book you can say, "It's always a good time for champagne!" in Dutch.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

We’ll get to practicing!

[@19hen70]

jullie 4 zijn mijn favoriete Amerikanen.....of eigenlijk 5 Tabasco hoort er ook bij🥳🍻

[@nimwey7701]

So much fun to see you 4 (5) enjoying yourselfs on Kingsday, to bad Alex and Maxima and their daughters were to far away to shake their hands 😄 but at least you saw them in real life now, well the guys did they really should have picked you girls up so you both could see as well🤣 Great video

[@andrevanginkel9951]

Travis looks like a real king !

[@TAndTGoDutch]

I might be biased, but I agree! 👑

[@marcblokpoel]

I'm sorry Tracy and Travis, but €3,00 for those items, Tammy and Eric won imo. But your vlog is the best i've seen about Koningsdag, so you are all winners.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Fair enough on the contest! And thank you so much for watching!

[@rinynewton8297]

Great video good to see you all had a great day. For me Tammy and Eric bought the best gifts. It's educational I like that. I watched all this on TV and tried to look for you all in the crowd...needles to say I didn't find you's!! 😂😂 waiting for the next video. Thx guys ❤

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@ZeNN-Music]

Dat Sprookjesboek geeft duidelijk aan wie de winnaars zijn! ;) Ik kocht ooit een (werkende) Yamaha 'Keytar' met doos etc op koningsdag voor eu 7,50! Good times!

[@MichelBaek]

Great video with T and T and T and T and E. So many T’s but my absolute nr. 1 T is superstar Tabasco. He is the one and only King. ❤❤❤

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Definitely the king of our castle! 🧡

[@vanderquast]

Great day in Rotterdam. You got the royal family good on camera 👍😊Kings Day festivals in the smaller towns and villages can be very cute though 😉 The sprookjesboek is the best Investment, for learning Dutch and visiting De Efteling 😎

[@Iamsanni]

I agree, better to go to cities like Amersfoort, Zwolle or Haarlem or a village

[@mattgiant8836]

Wonderful video! You should go to Utrecht next year for Kings Night (the night before and so on ). Utrecht might be the best Kingsday city.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

We’ve seen that a few times now, next year for sure!

[@harrym740]

It is just so cool to see you guys do as the dutch do! Hopelijk hebben jullie je vermaakt =]

[@bertoverweel6588]

Yep, following these lovely people.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

🧡

[@Linnml67]

Super leuke video, en goede aankopen! Als je vroeg gaat is Amsterdam prima te doen en kun je mooie vintage kleding en spullen scoren. Ook leuk met de boten in de grachten. Echt een aanrader.

[@user-dv7qq4wy9q]

Hi guys! Loved to see you celebrating Kingsday and having such a good time. Now, about eating a tompouce pastry. It's hilarious watching foreigners eating it. The trick how to eat it is: take the top pastry off and eat it with your fingers. Then take a fork or spoon and eat the mousse and last eat the bottom. All nice and clean. 😂❤

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Go big our go home, getting messy is part of the fun, especially on King’s Day! 🧡

[@rmyikzelf5604]

No no. Tom Pouce... slice them in half horizontally through the middle of the 'bakkersroom', then (by personal preference) eat the bottom half first and then the top.

[@susannehansler7279]

Great video, i love to see you enjoying, not only the Kings Birthday, but mine to😊. The winners are T & T , because i also love candels and those glasses are stunning!. See you next time!

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Gefeliciteerd, Susanne! We hope you enjoyed your special day! 🧡🇳🇱🎉

[@SwirlingSoul]

To me, Tammy and Eric got the better stuff (the stuff I personally would pick) but you guys got the better financial deal, for sure! Nicely done, with afdingen! (haggling)

[@joannewink7101]

Like the sprookjes boek, but i love sprookjes.🥰

[@misterdutch2853]

06:22 Sounds like the music from the Movie "Flodder in Amerika!" Go see it!

[@yerrie1908]

Maxima was in the Rotterdam colors, she is smart and very pretty

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Agreed! That green outfit was striking!

[@sylviasmits9275]

ERIC YOU DID IT!!!! You said houdoe. I gess that's gonne cost me a t-shirt Traver and Tracy won the contest by a mile. Love the champagne glasses and the candle

[@TAndTGoDutch]

We’ll cherish them for years to come! 🧡

[@SoultoSoulTravels]

Hi Sylvia! I said houdoe just for you!!

[@sylviasmits9275]

@@SoultoSoulTravels 🥰

[@shortysonOK]

Fun video! This was our first Koningsdag and we celebrated it in Groningen. I was surprised by the size of the secondhand market-it stretched on and on, there was no way we could look at everything. All sorts of stuff sold! Now that we have an idea of what to expect, can’t wait to explore more next year and maybe enjoy more of the games and live music. Question: where in Rotterdam was that giant oranje tompouce? So cool!

[@TAndTGoDutch]

In the Koopgoot! We just had to see it!

[@markuserikssen]

Great video! It looks like y'all had a great time and you're integrating quickly! I was in Groningen for Kingsday and it was so much fun. Parties all over town, live music everywhere, happy people, what's not to like? I would highly recommend it! 🧡

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Sounds like you had a lovely King’s Day! We need to make it to Groningen soon!

[@uchihajm]

Eric and Tammy won.

[@eobi-edobi4275]

great video, nice to see both couples celebrating kingsday. i hope you enjoy it. for the contest, i think it is tied.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@MrsDutchie50]

You were all at Markthal and didn’t stop by?

[@aislingbooks]

Definitely champagne flutes - nice find

[@aislingbooks]

Forgot to mention how cute and well-behaved Tabasco was throughout...very nice puppy. And thanks for filming and sharing this - I'm crowd-aphobic, so it's been fun to see from an armchair view.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

He was so good for us, we were so proud. So glad you enjoyed!

[@nardlangendijk6203]

Great idea to try to watch the Royal Family of Orange from a balcony, but the balcony will probably have to 'close down' for security reasons obviously during their visit. For us NL is a safe country, unfortunately for a few it isn't at all.

[@TheJolanda01]

Tammy and eric won for me

[@ElMariachi1337]

Great vid! As someone from Amsterdam I'd say avoid Amsterdam on Kingsday, it's just too big, too crowded and too commercial imo. Apart from maybe the Vondelpark which is reserved for kids and pretty cool. I'm personally more of a fan of the vrije markt and Utrecht is probably a better place for that rather then the drinking parties in Amsterdam. Also funny seeing Tobasco floored at the end of the trip, was already thinking during the vid that dog will be so tired when he gets home lol.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

We’re pretty sure you could hear him snoring down the street last night! 😂

[@rmyikzelf5604]

I was about to say this. Maybe try Kingsnight in Utrecht!

[@DidierWierdsma6335]

WOW Soul to Soul Travels and T and T in one video awesome love it. I hope that all of you had a great Kingsday? I love the free markets it's always interesting to see what people sell. Other than that a great video keep up the great work👍 En nog een prettige dag toegewenst😊

[@TAndTGoDutch]

We had such a great time. Hopefully your Kingsday was lovely as well!

[@DidierWierdsma6335]

@@TAndTGoDutch It was thank you 😊

[@kikidoove9456]

Bigger patry then in Leiden because te King was visiting Rotterdam this year.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Of course, that makes sense.

[@fkaptijn7111]

I think that 3 oktober is more important in Leiden than kings day

[@Iamsanni]

Also there was still a covid aftermath last year. Nice weather always helps!

[@rmyikzelf5604]

I think you both did well, for the money spent. I do seriously doubt those champagne flutes are crystal though. They look very glassy to me. But hey, who cares? They're nice and it's about what you drink from them anyway!

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Exactly!

[@mauritsiuspontus1530]

Such a shame Eric didn’t get his marbles, they might have won it for him. As it stands I would call it a tie for the ladies, both picking up some Dutch educational tools, very cool and useful. T&T take the win, partly for using the whole budget, mostly Tabasco being the real winner. Silly questions how did Travis’s cross experience sense of privacy compare to a regular line in a public bathroom? When in Rome, will Tabasco serve as a cardio-machine for Eric?

[@sim-one]

Even for the Dutch, in this tiny country it’s not that common to be close to the king. Having a channel like this might just help 😉?

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Haha, maybe! We just felt so lucky to have beautiful weather and excellent company. 🧡

[@sim-one]

@@TAndTGoDutch You did! On both ways! 😊 Hey, they are just born into it… know just as much as you and me and probably even less in many ways. I wouldn’t sign for the alternatives though…

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Love team-up. On meeting the king ... look at what your fellow US expat 'Explore The Foreign' managed! (Spoiler...a mini interview with king Willem Alexander)

[@TAndTGoDutch]

So awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@freddyfrieza6742]

Sorry tamie and Eric, I love you Guys but Tracy and Travis won this time. Tamie I love the idea of Reading in to sprookjes/farytails in preperation for de Efteling!!

[@andyveenstra6275]

Is that a black and white Shiba Inu ??

[@TAndTGoDutch]

No, Tabasco is an Alaskan Klee Kai, which is a miniature husky.

[@Stadtionalist]

I came over here to heckle StST a bit, but they managed to keep 7 euros in their pocket whilst you two blew your money on a candle and a book that would've been in pristine condition if owned by a library... So, sorry to tell you but StST definitely won the vrijmarkt contest. :-P

[@TAndTGoDutch]

No need to be sorry, It’s all in good fun. We got some items we absolutely loved and will cherish. Thanks for watching!

[@ariekiewiet7214]

T&T had the better items 😄

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Thank you!

[@mattgiant8836]

Did you sell the dog for 10 euros? :p

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Never, he’s priceless.

[@eefaaf]

Children's market.... where you buy children. To start a wild rumor about the Netherlands :P

[@TAndTGoDutch]

😆😆😆

[@elsiengale3125]

I'll stick to Eric and Tammy. Not overwhelmed by the other couple with the dog - I'm not a doggy person.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Sorry we were underwhelming, but thanks for watching.

[@gijsbertusvermeulen85]

Taking your dog to the kings day is not the best idea

[@kimspirit6510]

Your video is lovely! Still spending 4 million on a party is too much in my opinion half of that should have gone to poor families in rotterdam.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

4 million? Wow, that’s insane.

[@kimspirit6510]

@@TAndTGoDutch yes rotterdam spent that which is the most expensive ever i think. And the sad thing is Rotterdam- Zuid is one if the poorest places in the Netherlands.

[@dahemper]

The Netherlands; 80% black coloured coats lol

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Hey, it was still quite chilly yesterday! Orange coats are hard to come by.

[@vanCaldenborgh]

As a Dutch I refuse to celebrate our backward silly constitution.

[@TAndTGoDutch]

Okay, seems like this video wouldn’t be for you then. Thanks for your feedback.

[@rutgerb]

Van Caldenborgh does sound noble😂

[@vanCaldenborgh]

@@TAndTGoDutch No... Maybe the KZbin AI wanted to annoy me ;) But I always explain it to people from countries with elected presidents by a question: "Would you prefer a change of constitution, that in case your president dies or stands back his oldest son will automatically be the next president? And same for him and his son and so on...." Just imagine for a moment and think about it. For me nothing to celebrate, I don't support the Orange clan's propaganda.