Hartjesdag

Originally Hartjesdag (Day of Hearts) was a festival celebrated on the third Monday in August in the Dutch areas of Haarlem and Bloemendaal and in various parts of Amsterdam, particularly around the Haarlemmerplein, in the Jordaan, and in the Dapperbuurt.

A typical scene was captured in the oil painting entitled Hartjesdag, by the artist Johan Braakensiek in 1926.

This was a festival where in the forests around Haarlem deer (herten) hunting could be done by the ordinary people, which was normally reserved for nobility.

In 1997 a local committee in the Zeedijk, Amsterdam, decided to see if they could revive the tradition.

Each year since then, the festival has flourished into a two-day event on the 3rd weekend in August.