King’s Day festivities throughout the country concluded last night without any major incidents, marking a break from last year’s troubles, in which riot police were called into Amsterdam. Tighter rules in the capital, as well as careful crowd control plans and public messaging in other cities, helped quell any major disorders.
Councils in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Breda told people not to enter central parts of the cities as they were overcrowded. Special public transport services, running extra hours and forbidding alcohol, appeared to work smoothly.
In Almere, a festival ended half an hour early after some visitors climbed the perimeter fences, while Gouda stopped admitting people to a packed Koningsnacht event on the central market square.
Some violence was reported; two people were injured in a stabbing incident near the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam in the evening, to which an emergency trauma team was sent by ambulance. Details of the incident remain unclear. Seventeen people were also arrested in Utrecht for fighting, bicycle theft and insulting police officers.
Flea markets
Utrecht hosted the country’s biggest vrijmarkt – the one-day flea market that gives anyone the right to sell second-hand goods on the street without a permit or paying tax, running 24 hours from 6pm on Sunday until 6pm on Monday. Amsterdam’s ran from 6am to 8pm, with dedicated children’s markets in Vondelpark and at the NDSM wharf.
Council enforcement officers in several cities ordered sellers to pack up for being too commercial. In Utrecht, one man was told to remove his stall after turning up with cuttings from seven varieties of succulents and cacti he had grown himself, while traders with large tables of Pokémon cards were also moved on.
Local rules say the vrijmarkt is for private individuals selling second-hand goods, with officials judging commerciality by the look of a stall and the number of identical items on offer.
The food safety authority (NVWA) carried out checks for the first time in two years, having skipped the 2025 edition on budget grounds. Seventeen inspectors visited 106 food stalls across the country, issuing six fines of up to €1,050 each and 36 formal warnings; three private sellers were ordered to stop selling food altogether.
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