It was the biggest party of the year in Drenthe: King’s Day in Emmen. King Willem-Alexander celebrated his birthday in Emmen together with his family on Saturday, April 27. There were 30,000 people along the route and another 2.2 million people watched the visit on television.
“I think we have organized a great event with a very nice team,” says Mayor Eric van Oosterhout. “The royal family responded very positively. But what I especially like are all the positive reactions, not only from here in the city, but also from all those people who watched. You don’t want to know how many nice reactions we received.”
Before the party started in Emmen, something special happened. The only Orange association in the municipality of Emmen, in the village of Zuidbarge, existed for 75 years in the spring. How wonderful it would be to celebrate that party with the royal family. The Orange Association made an appeal and from August 2023, intensive consultations took place between the municipality of Emmen, the Government Information Service (RVD) and the Orange Association. With results! Because the bus with the royal family drove through the village at walking pace.
“That was our dream and it came true,” says chairman Gerald Mulder. “The moment passed quickly, but it was really enjoyable.” Mulder doesn’t think it’s a shame that the family didn’t get out. “Of course you hope for an impulse, but we knew it was really not possible.” It is not yet known how King’s Day will be celebrated in Zuidbarge next year. “But don’t bullshit us,” Mulder says, laughing. “And this memory remains and we will take it with us.”
During King’s Day, the royal family shakes countless hands and many, many selfies are taken. But a few get a hug, including Jannes. The Emmen-born singer is singing on one of the squares when the king walks up to him and hugs him.
“A very special and special moment,” says Jannes. “You expect a handshake, but when a hug comes so spontaneously from our king, you are very happy and proud. I slept very poorly that night, because I was more than tense, but this way I received recognition. It was the highlight of the year for me.”
Van Oosterhout also calls the meeting between Jannes and the king one of the special moments of that day. “Because I think it was very spontaneous on both sides. Jannes was genuinely touched that the king paid attention to him, but the king also really enjoyed it.”
The mayor looks back on the day with a proud and satisfied feeling, although the run-up was ‘a bit messy’. In January, the municipal council in Emmen was told that the party would be 800,000 euros more expensive than previously calculated. A large number of factions were unpleasantly surprised and the mayor apologized. “But when I look at the entire performance, of course there are always little things that could be improved, then in general it was a wonderful event.”
When asked whether Van Oosterhout lay awake in the nights before King’s Day, the mayor answers that he does not do that easily. “But good friends told me that I seemed a bit tense in the beginning. As a rule, I don’t usually suffer from that, but now it was indeed the case. It was a kind of competition tension, because I knew what could happen. .” Once he arrives on the big stage on the Raadhuisplein, Van Oosterhout feels relief. “There was a satisfied mayor.”
And not only Van Oosterhout, but also the king was satisfied. “I understand that if something is absolutely fantastic, you say: It could have been done less. I tell you this King’s Day: It could have been done much less. Thank you all very much!” “We of course use that phrase, that scene, at many times,” says van Oosterhout. “And I think the king is right too.”