Muted celebrations of Dutch king's birthday amid pandemic

The Dutch have celebrated their king’s birthday in muted fashion as a coronavirus lockdown prevents large-scale street parties for the second year running

AMSTERDAM -- The Dutch celebrated their king's birthday Tuesday in muted fashion as a coronavirus lockdown prevented large-scale street parties for the second year running, but in some places people could not resist the temptation to gather outdoors in warm spring weather. Amsterdam municipality shut off access to a park by early afternoon and urged people to stay away from the Dutch capital, saying it was too busy. Amsterdam police also said they broke up several parties overnight. Herman Slim and a group of friends visited from the nearby town of Alkmaar. "For this day we rented scooters and we are making a tour in Amsterdam. That’s nice,” he said.