Amsterdam: how to celebrate Queen's Day The day is celebrated with street parties all over the country, for example most cafes and many restaurants will set up on the pavement outside their doors. It is also celebrated with something quintessentially Dutch - a nationwide fleamarket. People empty their attics and set up stall on the street, selling anything you can imagine. Or they provide services (cakes and drinks, massage, make-up - anything they can turn their hand to). Children especially put on side-shows or have a go at busking. Prices are low, and some people donate their earnings to a favourite charity. Nowadays, though, things are getting increasingly commercial with real traders and fast-food vendors joining in. Where to go Amsterdam is the focus of the celebrations and gets very crowded, especially along the main canals and city squares, with sometimes up to 3 million people in a city with a population of 750,000. The Vondelpark is usually devoted to acts and stalls from children, while the Zeedijk (near Centraal Station) and Reguliersdwarsstraat, and a stretch along the Amstel River are given over to huge gay street parties. My personal favourite spots are a little south of the centre, along Apollolaan, and in and around the Sarphatipark, where there is still something of the Queen's Day of yore (and as Apollolaan is in a posh area of town, quite some bargains to be had from the emptied attics). If you are in Amsterdam to celebrate Queen's Day though, it is best to avoid arriving on the day itself, as the crowds make travelling around the city at best nightmarish, at worst, impossible.