A record 900,000 people attended the Liberation Day festivities around the Netherlands on Monday, which were rounded off by the traditional concert on the Amstel river in Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam concert, which was attended by king Willem-Alexander, queen Máxima, princess Beatrix and former Irish president Mary Robinson, featured a mix of classical and popular music performed by the Philharmonie Zuidnederland orchestra, singers Jenny Arean and Wouter Hamel and violinist Liza Ferschtman, with actor Hans Dagelet reading war poems.

It ended around 22.00 with the singing of We’ll Meet Again, made famous by Vera Lynn who sang it for the British soldiers during the war.

Freedom flame

Liberation Day, marking 69 years since Germany surrendered at the end of World War II, began when prime minister Mark Rutte lit the freedom flame in Assen. He called on everyone to ‘pass on freedom and continue with celebrating it together’.

His speech was followed by the May 5 lecture, given this year by Mary Robinson, former High Commissioner for Human Rights and Irish president. She said young people must learn to value what it means to be a free citizen, and that older people must teach the young that this is a matter which touches them directly.

Parade

The annual liberation parade in Wageningen attracted 1,800 veterans, a record number according to the organisers. There were so many people watching the parade that police sent a Twitter message warning that the route was full.

The 14 festivals – one in each of the 12 provinces and in The Hague and Amsterdam – passed off peacefully with a ‘good atmosphere’ and ‘nicely crowded’, according to the police.