BSN celebrates an atypical King’s Day with enthusiasm

King’s Day 2020, on Monday 27 April, was exceptional. For one thing, it was the hottest King’s day since Willem Alexander become King in 2014.  More significantly, this year’s King’s Day was unlike any other before it because Covid-19 meant we could not celebrate in our usual way. But, this did not mean that we didn’t celebrate as a BSN Community at all.

Parents, students and staff, particularly those new to the Netherlands, embraced tradition by wearing orange clothes and accessories at home.

‘Koningsdag’ in the Netherlands

Traditionally in the Netherlands, the King’s birthday, or ‘Koningsdag’ as it is known in Dutch, is a big outdoors party. People wear orange, gather together and enjoy music and food, including the traditional tompouce snack. It’s a big event for children. Many sell their old toys on the street as flea markets are permitted. Each year, a special dance is devised and children participate in the ‘Koningsspelen’ (the King sports). Koningsdag this year was renamed ‘Woningsdag’ (house day) or even ‘Balkoningsdag’ (balcony day) to reflect, with characteristic Dutch humour, the current Covid-19 restrictions.

BSN Junior School creativity

To mark the occasion, our Junior schools collaborated to produce a colourful document with information about the tradition and plenty of fun activities for families to try at home. These included:

• Creative crafts e.g. how to make your own Delfts Blauw tile or a model of the royal carriage
• Games e.g. ‘bite the cake’ and ‘poop the nail’
• Dance—a selecting of previous year’s official dances
• Kitchen creations e.g. recipes for a stroopwaffel tower or a snack based on the colours of the Dutch flag

BSN community: bringing people together

As a British international school located in The Netherlands, it is essential to integrate into our host country and be part of the local and wider community. We do this by celebrating the local traditions and cultures, and this brings the BSN community of around 90 different nationalities together—Dutch culture is what we all have in common.