Going Dutch

Sunday the 30th of April was Dutch Orange Day aka Koninginnedag or Queen's Birthday, the birthday of Queen Juliana in the Netherlands.
Why orange? Because the Dutch wear orange on this day to celebrate the Dutch Royal Family also known as the House of Orange-Nassau. Don't worry about that tiger with its ass sticking up in the air, its just a slide for the kids.

So what comes to your mind when you think of Dutch? Most people would say tulips where in the Netherlands are grown so famously for. But we do have a Dutch family who's been here in Melbourne for many years and they grow most of the tulips and other flowers as well. They are the Tesselaars and they had a stall there that day but business was a bit slow because of the rain.

Sjoelen is a popular board game in Holland that came about in the 19th century. Not sure how the game is played but the game has always been big in Holland and Belgium and has also spread to Germany.

One other thing that associates with the Dutch is clogs and clog making. Though not specifically localised to Holland the Dutch do wear these traditional footwears during the festive seasons. We had the privilege of watching the clog maker demonstrating his trade.

And that day I saw a lot of people wearing clogs in different colours and designs. They're wooden shoes but surprisingly very light too because of the wood they use. Today they are going to attempt a World Record Clog Dancing here at Federation Square!

We had the usual official opening ceremony by a few VIPs including the Lord Mayor of Melbourne Cr. John So giving a few words to declare the festival open. Then there's some formalities before the Clog Dancing begins.

Everybody and anybody can join in the dance even if you don't know how to dance coz they'll teach you! All you need is a pair of clogs which I don't have so I'm out. Even the State Emergency Services volunteers who happened to be nearby join in the fun as well.

The dance looks quite simple enough, you just have to time yourself and just do what the person next to you is doing! Despite the light rain everyone did their best for the world record which is sanctioned by the people from the Guinness Book of Records!

That lady in the middle on stage led the dance and everyone was supposed to follow her lead. She tells you when to move to the right, when to move to the left and when to stomp your clogs! Easy! Even Cr. John So was in it too seen here with the arrow pointing at him.


When it was over everybody cheered. I'm not sure if they've broken any record that day, there were 163 dancers and no one got disqualified and the whole thing was live webcast with another dance group in the Netherlands on the internet.

You can watch a short clip of the dance below;