Muted celebrations of Dutch king’s b’day

This year, for the second straight year, cities are encouraging people to stay home.

Amsterdam: The Dutch celebrated their king’s birthday Tuesday in muted fashion as a coronavirus lockdown prevented large-scale street parties for the second year running.

King Willem-Alexander was marking his 54th birthday in the southern city of Eindhoven, a city that brands itself as a hub for high-tech innovation, for a digital version of the annual royal walkabout.

The King’s Day national holiday is usually an occasion for the Dutch to drape themselves in orange clothes, hats and feather boas, sell old toys and books in street markets and crowd the streets of major cities.

This year, for the second straight year, cities are encouraging people to stay home.

The capital, Amsterdam, urged residents to celebrate according to lockdown guidelines with a maximum of one visitor, but added “you can still dig out the orange T-shirt or silly hat and hang out the flag.” A man wearing an orange robe cycled down a near deserted street in the city, while people stood in socially distanced lines waiting to buy pastries topped with icing in the national color orange.