Kings Night in The Hague

The night before our dear Willy’s (also known as King Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands) birthday is known as King’s Night. In The Hague, I saw at least three different stages set up for free outdoor concerts. They played in packed squares until the early hours of the morning.

Even after the concerts were shut down, people were outside roaming the streets and packing out the clubs. I would know, I went to three different clubs and countless bars trying to find a place that wasn’t yet full. Fortunately, we eventually found one. Ironically, I ended up at The Fiddler, a large Irish (note: not Dutch) pub and microbrewery popular among LUC students. But, after wasting so much time waiting outside of various clubs and searching for other places to go, we had only a half hour before the bar closed.

So we went home. It was still a really fun night, but if I had any advice for future students, it would be this: leave early for Kings Night. For some reason, everything closes around 2am. With so many cool (and free!) things starting early, there’s no reason to wait until midnight to go out.

Besides, it’s good to get home early and get some sleep in preparation for King’s Day!