Easter Monday

🐰 🇳🇱 Netherlands • April 6, 2026

Days off: 1 days • Falls on Monday

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Easter Monday — holiday, Netherlands (April 6, 2026)

Easter Monday Description

Easter Monday is the second day of Easter and an official public holiday in the Netherlands. Government offices, banks, and schools close, while many retail shops operate on reduced hours. The day is popular for outdoor excursions, with families visiting amusement parks like Efteling, cycling through tulip fields in the Bollenstreek, or browsing furniture expos at outlets such as the Woonmall in Villa ArenA. It serves as a relaxed extension of Easter Sunday celebrations.

📜 History & Origins

The two-day Easter pattern ('tweede paasdag') originated in the early Church's Octave of Easter and was retained in the Netherlands when many other countries dropped the extra day. The Dutch Reformed tradition kept Easter Monday as a public day of rest long after secularization, and it remains legally embedded in the General Extension of Labor Relations Act (AWR), preserving a second day off for celebration and travel.

🎉 How It's Celebrated

With schools closed and a day off guaranteed, Dutch families stream outdoors. Efteling, the fairytale theme park in Kaatsheuvel, is at peak capacity, as are Keukenhof's tulip gardens near Lisse. Cycling routes through the blooming Bollenstreek and the Veluwe heathland are crowded, and many families continue paasbrunch leftovers at a picnic. In the Catholic south, Easter Monday processions and kermis (village fairs) carry on spring rites.

🍽️ Traditional Foods

The second day repurposes brunch remnants — boiled eggs, paasbrood, and leftover ham — into relaxed picnics and lunchboxes for outings. Lammetjesvlees (spring lamb) is a traditional Easter Monday main in southern Catholic households, echoing ancient spring-slaughter customs. Stroopwafels and poffertjes are popular treats bought at the kermis stands that accompany village fairs.

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