Traditions and everyday life in NetherlandsFestivals, family customs, favourite places and everyday traditions, written by members of Global Penfriends who live in Netherlands. Each cultural keepsake is a short note about life where they are.
99 keepsakes from Netherlands · page 1 of 4
Every year on 27 April, the Netherlands celebrates King’s Day, or Koningsdag, the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. It is one of the most colourful and cheerful days of the year.People dress in orange, the colour associated with…
Shared by DeDeuce
So, Sinterklaas is an event for kids where Sinterklaas brings presents. It takes place on the 5th of December, and a lot of kids love it. He has helpers called Pieten, and they come down the chimney.The celebration happens over…
Shared by Florencens
Brabantsedag Heeze, the biggest theater parade of the year! Every last Sunday of August, almost 30,000 visitors are overwhelmed by the unparalleled experience of the Brabantsedag. A unique event packed with culture and…
Shared by DhexiS
I live near and go to school in Wageningen. On the fifth of May, during WW2, it was in this city that the German troops stationed in the Netherlands signed their surrender. This day has become an annual holiday of national…
Shared by Finnepin
The family gathers an the children get presents from Saint Nicholas and his Black companion Piet. Naughty kids get taken to Spain. When older the family members exchange gifts an poems. Gingerbread, spiced baked pepernoten and…
Shared by Dutch Polyglot
The celebration of the King's birthday on the 27th of April. A lot of people wear Orange clothes. Orange is the national colour of The Netherlands and refers to the name of the Royal Family (Orange-Nassau). The Royals celebrate…
Shared by RRB86
There are a couple of bunkers hidden in the dunes facing the North Sea. These bunkers have been build during WWII but have been out of commission since the end of the war.These bunkers are maybe one of the most well known bunkers…
Shared by SoepMetKetchup
I visited the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam! It was an amazing sight to see! The Westergasfabriek is a former gasworks in Amsterdam that is now being used as a sort in of living museum. When you enter the factory you can walk…
Shared by JoleneDanique
Limburgse Vlaai is a type of sweet pie specifically associated with the Dutch and/or Belgium province of Limburg (both countries have a province called Limburg). The pastry comes in different variations and flavours, but it must…
Shared by CleverCabbage
Carnival is celebrated every year. Carnival is pre-eminently the festival of folly, ridicule and exuberance. It is now customary in various places in the Netherlands to open carnival on Carnival Friday. In almost all cities and…
Shared by A_xswaggie
On the 3rd of October each year, the town I (used to) live in celebrates the indepence of the spanish occupancy of the city Leiden. It's also called 'Leidens ontzet'. We eat harring and white bread, hutspot with klapstuk (or…
Shared by Eljaf2025
we celebrate “sinterklaas” which is kinda like christmas but we have “pieten” who bring presents through chimneys and they get coal on them so they have black/brown stains, they deliver the presents when a child puts his or her…
Shared by PuckB <3
Every year we in the Netherlands celebrate King\'s day. It is the King's birthday and it is a national day off. There\'s music everywhere, people wear orange (our national colour) and people sell their stuff on the streets. It is…
Shared by rowdj
During the summer, my hometown is the place to be, not just for locals but visitors to the Netherlands who want a quieter place than the big city. My family has a small beach house that tourists can rent, sometimes, we stay in it…
Shared by BrightLight
During “Sinterklaas”, citizens of the Netherlands (mainly young children) follow the news about a man named Sint Nicolaas through “het Sinterklaasjournaal”, a news channel dedicated to Sint Nicolaas. On the 5th of December it’s…
Shared by isabelxm
There is this really old man who is sinterklaas and he brings childeren presents at night he has helpers called "piet" who have brown/black streaks on their faces from going down the chimney. Sinterklaas also has his own news…
Shared by L1vs
In the third week of July, we walk the 4 Days Marches together, the world’s largest walking achievement event! Over 45,000 participants with more than 70 different nationalities, from as young as 11 to over 90, come to Nijmegen…
Shared by Kay Antoinette
Wherever you need to go in the Netherlands, you can go by bike. Whatever you need to take, you can take by bike. I'll admit that there are a few exceptions, but for two years I had to pick up my sister from the busstop, and we…
Shared by Gerlindie
When the new year has started, lots of people make do on their promises to start the year with a fresh slate and go for a nieuwjaarsduik. The premise is very simple: when you wake up after celebrating new years' eve, you go out…
Shared by DutchChemist
In the Netherlands we have a "official" capital: Amsterdam and the political capital: The Hague. In The Hague there is a building called the palace of Peace. This palace houses the international Court of Justice. In The Hague we…
Shared by MR_M
On April 27 we celebrate Kingsday here in a rather strange way. Almost all the big cities in the country will be filled with sheets of cloth where people put there unused goods and try to sell them. Next to that there are podiums…
Shared by Dimens
Van Gogh was born and raised in Brabant (South of the Netherlands) and made many of his paintings there. In Brabant, he found inspiration for what later turned out to be masterpieces. I want to follow in Van Gogh's footsteps with…
Shared by Gerardium
King's Day (Koningsdag) is the Netherlands' giant, country-wide birthday party for the King, held April 27th, turning the whole country orange with massive street parties, flea markets (selling everything!), music, and…
Shared by soofxo
In the north of the Netherlands, near my home, lies Hunebed D27, an ancient megalithic tomb built more than 5,000 years ago. I goten visit this place; it feels like standing at the meetingpoint of Earth and eternity. The stones…
Shared by Lunanea
Born out a religious tradition it became part of my area: every year 6 weeks before easter we celebrate 5 days of carnaval. People dress up as clowns or superheroes or whatever you can imagine and watch parades where kids can…
Shared by NightShade79
Koningsdag, or Kingsday in English is a national tradition where we celebrate the birthday of our king. Everything is in orange that day and we basically go out and we can visit all sort of stalls where random people sell things…
Shared by Star Wars geek
On the 4th of may we will have a remembrance day. On this day at 8 P.M the whole country will be quiet for 2 minutes to commemorate what happend in WW1 and WW2. This will also be done by the king and queen in city centre of…
Shared by Oliva-NL
During Carnaval 's-Hertogenbosch / Den Bosch / Oeteldonk the people of Den Bosch like to display the colours of the city. Red, white and yellow. You can see them in knitted scarfs, decoration in stores, on pasty. Personally I…
Shared by CharisLaP
We celebrate Épiphanie with the family. We eat a pie called: Galette des Rois. It's a pie with a hard thing in it and whoever gets the hard thing in their piece of cake gets a crown. The day is to celebrate the day the 3 kings…
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