The 34th annual Holland Festival celebrating Dutch King’s Day kicked off early Sunday afternoon, April 28 at POA Park in Long Beach. People of all ages arrived early to make their rounds on the various booths set up throughout the park.
The overwhelming demand for tickets resulted in cars parked beyond the festival’s designated parking lot all the way up onto the grass of the park.
Live music played on the center stage while visitors were greeted with a variety of signature Dutch street foods like patat friet and brokered from concession stands. Booths and tents wrapped around the rest of the festival and their proprietors sold everything from food, to jewelry and individual think pieces.
Artist Ray Cirino operated a booth on the north side of the park and joked that he was at the festival to “paint portraits of people without drawing their ugly parts.” Apart from his self portrait services, Cirino’s tent was also layered with several high quality old fashioned paintings.
While Cirino shared that it was his first year “on the job,” he also mentioned that he was familiar with the event because of his relationship with the festival’s co-founder, Conny Lederer. There were also other stallholders selling original pieces of jewelry from their personal brands.
The Indo Project and Dutch School of Southern California both held booths at the event, seeking to educate the general public on Dutch culture.
Secretary of the Indo Project, Patricia Teunisse, explained that Kings Day is a celebration of the birthday of the King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander, born April 27, 1967. She clarified that the Indo Project was “formed to help people who have migrated to the United States from the Dutch East Indies colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.”
The Dutch School of Southern California offer Dutch language and cultural classes in Santa Ana and at campuses across Southern California. This program, like the Indo Project, aims to educate those who have interest in Dutch culture.
Kritya Shah, an Orange Coast College student from Costa Mesa, noted that she had heard of the event through one of her friends who had discovered it a year prior.
“I honestly only came out today because I had some time off of work and wanted to get out of the house but I wasn’t expecting anything like this,” Shah said.
“The food is amazing here but there are also so many educational attractions. I never thought I would hear about the entire history of the Netherlands in one afternoon but here we are.”
The festival remained packed for the entirety of the event, with attendees enjoying all it had to offer. The annual festival will be back again next year and for more updates, please follow their Instagram.