Koningsdag op de vrijmarkt en kermis

What is the “vrijmarkt” on Dutch King’s Day?

Once a year, on Koningsdag (King’s Day, April 27), the Netherlands becomes a country-wide flea market. The tradition is called the vrijmarkt (“free market”): for this single day, Dutch citizens can sell used goods on the street without a permit, tax, or vendor’s license. Streets, sidewalks, and front yards fill with blankets covered in old toys, books, clothes, and homemade snacks. The day pairs the vrijmarkt with public concerts, oranjebitter (orange-colored liqueur), and kermis (a traveling funfair). The whole country dresses in orange, the royal-house color.

In this clip, a Dutch family browses a vrijmarkt, then loses small change at the kermis. The day captures Dutch national festivity in a single tradition.