National King’s Day Celebration 2024

King’s Day is an annual event when the Dutch celebrate their King’s birthday. Hosted this year by the city of Emmen, thousands came to celebrate, and millions enjoyed the live broadcast on TV.

On King’s Day, the Dutch celebrate their king’s birthday. On this unique and special day, all Dutchies get dressed up in orange, the national colour, and celebrate with traditional food and drinks, music and games. The city of Emmen hosted this year’s celebration and invited the royal family to celebrate King Willem-Alexander’s birthday. King’s Day was a great opportunity for Emmen to showcase itself to the rest of the Netherlands and beyond. The festivities were broadcast live on national television, attracting 3.8 million viewers, and drew 75 thousand national and international visitors.

During a two-hour live event and TV show, Emmen pulled out all the stops. Their goal: to show everyone what Emmen had to offer and produce an entertaining TV show, provide an unforgettable experience for the Royal Family, volunteers, and all who attended, and last but not least: To create a sense of cultural and historical pride for the people of Emmen.

In 2023, Emmen was labeled as the least attractive municipality in the Netherlands. Many people in Emmen felt this was untrue and by hosting King’s Day, they aimed to show that their municipality was quite the opposite.
With a plan to boost social cohesion, we asked the people of Emmen to turn in their ideas for the event. In a co-creation with the local community, we turned those ideas into a two-hour live event and tv show in which the Royal Family, visitors, and viewers at home were taken on a journey through Emmen.
A route was followed through nine squares in the city centre, each with a different theme, wherein ‘a bridge’ was formed between the past, present, and future. For example, in the ‘dance-square’ traditional folk dance was performed alongside modern and wheelchair dance. Every square featured a surprising mix of traditional and innovative performances from a variety of artists, in an exciting, inclusive and diverse program that showcased the history and identity of Emmen.