Queen’s Day
Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands on 30 April or on 29 April if the 30th is a Sunday. Queen’s Day celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands and is supposed to be a day of national unity and “togetherness” (Dutch: saamhorigheid). The tradition started on 31 August 1885, on the birthday of Princess Wilhelmina, later Queen Wilhelmina. Since 1949, after the ascension of Queen Juliana, Queen’s Day is Queen Juliana’s birthday on 30 April. Although Queen Beatrix’s birthday is on 31 January, she officially celebrates her birthday on 30 April.Queen’s Day is known for its “freemarket” (Dutch: vrijmarkt) all over the country, where everybody is allowed to sell things in the streets. Other activities during Queen’s Day are children’s games, individual musical performances, and music concerts. The night before Queen’s Day is celebrated too in some cities, and this is called Queen’s Night (Dutch: Koninginnenacht). The largest celebration of Queen’s Day is in Amsterdam, Queen’s Night in The Hague and Queen’s Dance (Dutch: Koninginnedans) in Rotterdam. During the celebrations as reference to the colours of the House of Orange-Nassau, people dress in the colour orange, which is sometimes called “orange craze” (Dutch: oranjegekte). (Source: Wikipedia)
FReC-tradition on Queen’s Day is to make a daytrip to Amsterdam, where we’ll celebrate the whole day in order to return to Leeuwarden with the (second-)last train.
One of the FReC highlights of the semester is our trip to one of the 5 beautiful Dutch islands - Ameland. We will leave on Friday in the afternoon and return Sunday afternoon. This trip involves a campfire on the beach, an island tour by bike, walking on the bottom of the sea and, of course, party! Join the trip and find out the beauty and fun of the Wadden islands.
On Wednesday the 26th of August it’s time for the 4th edition of International Student Night LIVE in Poppodium Romein! This time there will be a performance by the allround cover / partyband Gratis Bier (Free Beer) and the local bluesrock sensation Barry Nice and the Nice Guys. In between the live bands, DJ Ruiz will make the hall vibrate and sweat with his famous ‘drive & groove’. The entrance fee is only 3 euros.Hand-in the coupon from Poppodium Romein Magazine for a 50% discount on the entrance fee!
On Wednesday the 27th of May the international student associations of Leeuwarden, ESN Leeuwarden and FReC, organize the third edition of the intercultural music event “International Student Night LIVE” in Poppodium Romein. This time the Swedish folk-punk sisters of Baskery, the Groningen based funkband Growlin’ Love & Pain around the Italian singer/guitar player Marco Cinelli, the Bolsward based roots/reggae & dub band Riddim X and the all-girl rock band Six Senses will perform. Pepper & Salt DJ-Team will supply the world’s spiciest & hottest tunes before, in between and after the acts. The doors will open at 20.00 (8 p.m.) and the entrance fee will be only 4 Euros. Despite the name the event is also accessible for non-students.
Baskery consists of three beautiful sisters from Stockholm, Sweden. The girls call their own music “High Voltage” and use terms like “Killbilly”, “Banjo-Punk” and “Mud-Country” rather than traditional ones, since they are certainly not bound to any specific genre. On stage they show distinctive character and a reckless, unafraid punk attitude. The girls already toured successfully trough Ireland, Sweden, France, Canada, the United States, Denmark and Norway and lately they got confirmed for the famous Lowlands Festival, one of the biggest and most popular music festivals in the Netherlands. The only show they will give in Holland before the Lowlands Festival will be in Leeuwarden on “International Student night LIVE”.
The Bolsward-based roots, reggae and dub band Riddim X brings a warm mix of Roots, Dancehall and Dub. From their first promo cd the songs “The Park” and “Guesthouse” reached the number 1 and number 2 position in the Dutch Reggae Chart. Following this promo Riddimx made several appearances with Eek-a mouse and on the stage of various festivals and clubs in the Netherlands. The responses to these shows were very positive and Riddim X quickly became a strong live band. Reggae of Frisian soil with real horns, keys, guitars, percussion and a fat groovin’ riddim section.


