Koninginnenacht followed by Koninginnedag

So Queen's Day (Koninginnedag) is Queen Beatrix's birthday, and is always celebrated on April 30th. The festivities kick off the night before (Koninginnenacht) with music, parties, and lots of orange throughout the city. The canals are clogged with boats full of revelers, and if you're hanging out on a houseboat, strangers might just pull up alongside and hop on. 

Kind of like this:

On Queen's Day, the Dutchies wake up crazy early and start marking off the street with masking tape, claiming their territory for their tables and wares.  There are used books, clothes, crafts, food, drinks, and a wild assortment of dancers, singers and street performers. Nothing costs more than a few euros. It's like the world's largest garage sale. Nothing says Happy Birthday, Queen like a flea market, right?

The day started with poffertjes. Yum!

Early morning live music:

 Possibly my favorite part of the day. A teeny, tiny breakdancer. He was serious about his craft...

Shopping:

People on stilts!

 These tasted just like creamsicles:

(You would have liked them Shawn Hobbs!)

Hmmmmm...

And then there was the orange chaos on the canals:

 Except for this guy, who just wanted to read his morning paper:

Toes, not in the canal water. You wouldn't want to know what we saw being dumped in there. Seriously.

Captain Jack Sparrow likes Queen's Day:

And really, who doesn't look good in a full body spandex unitard?

Dutch multitasking: brushing your teeth while driving a boat. 

Pirates:

A couch. On a boat. Only in Amsterdam...

He was wearing pants. They were just tiny.

 More pirates:

 Traffic jam:

 Lovely ladies, clad in orange:

Orange overalls aren't for everyone, but this guy pulls them off:

Dogs like Queen's Day too:

I'm not sure this can actually be called a boat:

 Midday, we decided we would have a better view from the roof of the boat:

The Noordemarkt was a little bit crowded:

I must have one of these dresses for next year:

 I ♥ Queen's Day!