Celebrating Prinsjesdag

Prior to the actual Prinsjesdag procession, the various parade participants gather in a field just outside of the city center (the malieveld). During this time, some of the bands perform and the military units do some exercises. Then they all march to the palace to form the official procession.

I know tubas and bass drums are heavy, but marching with a baritone sax has got to be just as tough.

Musical Onions?

To open the Wassenaar kermis (fair), these guys entertained the crowd waiting for the lantern parade to begin, then led the families in the march to the fair ground. They had a great sound and were very entertaining.

Curiously, the name of their group is "De Zwiebels." Zwiebel is the german word for onion ... although my dutch is limited I'm not aware of it being used in the dutch language. Maybe it's a joke, or my translation skills might be off. But they're definitely dutch ... check out the shoes!!!

Wassenaar Dixieland

As we approach summer, Wassenaar's main shopping street, the Langstraat, gets busier and busier. Last weekend there was a garden fair; these guys were part of the entertainment and they were pumping out some mean Dixieland jazz.