National holidaysThe table below shows the dutch national holidays for 2009.

New Year’s day 1 January Easter* 12 and 13 April Queen’s day 30 April Ascension day 31 May Whitsuntide 31 May and 1 June Christmas* 25 and 26 December

*The Dutch celebrate Easter and Christmas with a 2-day holiday, which is often extended with free days.

Queen’s dayQueen's Day (Dutch: Koninginnedag) was originally a celebration of Queen Juliana's birthday, April 30th. When Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana (on April 30th 1980), she decided to keep this day a holiday as a tribute to her mother. It is now mainly known for the 'vrijmarkt' (literally 'freemarket'), the one day in the year that anyone is allowed to sell anything in the streets and 'koninginnenacht' (Queen's Night) on the preceding night.

This is a typical occasion for oranjegekte (orange craze), when the colour orange is a ubiquitous sight, referring to the name of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange. There are orange banners, orange colored foods and drinks, and extreme amounts of orange clothing and creative accessories are worn as well. You can find more information on wikipedia.