Belgians annually celebrate King’s Feast on November 15 This public holiday was established in 1866 during the rule of the first King of Belgium Leopold I.
Originally the feast was celebrated on July 21, that is the date of Leopold’s coronation in 1831, and on December 16, that his birthday. Kind Leopold II moved the holiday to November 15, that is the name day of Leopold and Albert, the patron saint of the Belgian royal family.
King’s Day (Koningsdag, Fête du Roi, Fest des Königs) has been celebrated since 1886 on 15 November which is the name day of both Leopold and Albert, the names chosen for the first four heirs to the Belgian throne. Every year, King’s Day is an occasion to cherish Belgium’s unity in its multicultural diversity. It is also a moment to rejoice in the solidity of Belgium’s ties with its many partners abroad.
King Leopold III officially installed November 15 to be the feast day of Saint Leopold and Saint Albert. During the rule of Prince Charles the holiday was renamed to be Day of the Dynasty or Feast of the Dynasty. These names provide extraneous description of the holiday, however, they are still used very often. Only in 1952 King Baudouin gave the holiday its current name.
