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King’s Day will not be on King Willem-Alexander’s birthday next year: Here’s why

Hip, hip, hoera! 🎉

The Dutch king will still blow out 58 birthday candles in Doetinchem in 2025 — but the monarch has changed the date of his celebration.

Alright, it wasn’t the King changing the date of his birthday, but a loophole.

While King’s Day is traditionally celebrated on April 27 of each year (a la the King’s birthday), April 27 falls on a Sunday in 2025.

We all know that it would be irresponsible to let the Dutch go wild drinking beer on a Sunday (imagine the Monday hangovers! 😬), hence the Saturday date instead.

Okay, okay, it’s probably not a hangover-related decision, but the Netherlands Government Information Service explains that this always happens if the reigning monarch’s birthday falls on a Sunday.

The good news? King’s Day 2025 is on a Saturday! Start the beer chilling now.

Fun fact: King Willem-Alexander was nicknamed “the Prince of Pils” in university for his spectacular beer-drinking efforts. 🍻

To Doetinchem, and beyond!

The 2025 festivities will take place in Doetinchem, northeast of Nijmegen and nestled in the green Achterhoek region.

The King celebrates his birthday with the royal family in a different city every year.

Locations of past King’s Day celebrations

  • 2024: Emmen
  • 2023: Rotterdam
  • 2022: Maastricht
  • 2021: Eindhoven
  • 2020: Palace Huis ten Bosch
  • 2019: Amersfoort
  • 2018: Groningen
  • 2017: Tilburg
  • 2016: Zwolle
  • 2015: Dordrecht
  • 2014: De Rijp and Amstelveen

Will you be celebrating King’s Day next year? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image:RVD
Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺https://gallivantations.com
Sam has over six years experience writing about life in the Netherlands and leads the content team at DutchReview. She originally came to the Netherlands to study in 2016 and now holds a BA (Hons.) in Arts, a BA (Hons) in Journalism, and a Masters in Teaching. She loves to write about settling into life in the Netherlands, her city of Utrecht, learning Dutch, and jobs in the Netherlands — and she still can’t jump on the back of a moving bike (she's learning!).

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