Netherlands fans gathering at Power and Light entertainment district before the march on Grand Boulevard (Rachel Meng)

Rachel Meng
Editorial Intern

   Orange took over Kansas City for the Netherlands Fan Walk, Thursday, June 26, before their final group stage game of the World Cup against Tunisia. 

   People started gathering at the Power and Light entertainment district around 9 a.m. before marching south down Grand Boulevard at 11:15 a.m. and ending at Fan Fest near Union Station. 

   Though the Netherlands flag is red, white and blue, orange is their signature color, serving as a tribute to the historical Dutch royal family known as the House of Orange. An iconic orange double-decker bus has been following the Netherlands national team for over two decades. 

 Jan VanBleisem, an attendee, was born in the Netherlands and has lived in Kansas City since 1983. VanBleisem was proud of his home country and when it was announced they were playing in KC, he knew he would be out to support. 

   “It’s [a] crazy time, everybody gets together and they cheer having a good time, [and] dance left to right,” said VanBleisem. 

   VanBleisem got tickets for the game from a relative and attended the Netherlands match with his daughter. 

Jan VanBleisem (right) and girlfriend Lisa (left) riding the streetcar to Power and Light (Rachel Meng)

   Whitney Robison, a Kansas City native who lives in Portland, flew in with her husband, landing at 1 a.m. Thursday to attend the Netherland’s festivities. 

   “This was a bucket list for us, we love the Netherlands,” said Robison. “We have some games out in the West Coast, but this was something we couldn’t miss, so we made it happen.”

Oranje Fan Walk marching down Grand Boulevard in a sea of orange (Rachel Meng)

   While there was a sea of orange with fans decked out, from jerseys to traffic cone costumes, fans from all over came out to support these teams, including their opponent for Thursday’s match, Tunisia. 

   Hatem Khalfallah, who is originally from Tunisia, joined the ‘Oranje Army’ at the Power and Light district in his Tunisian-themed gear. 

   “The FIFA World Cup is about soccer, but also it’s about people. It’s about being together and loving the game,” said Khalfallah. “It’s fantastic, we love the city, people are very friendly, very welcoming. The atmosphere is electric, makes us look forward to the game and hopefully we’re gonna win.” 

   Kansas City natives also joined in the festivities, after seeing social media posts about the event and joining with high estimates of 20,000 people gathering for this once in a lifetime event.

   “The Netherlands always travel well to the World Cup, if this is their homebase, it was definitely a great time to come down and celebrate with them,” said Justin Staus, a Kansas City native.

   The Netherlands team outscored Tunisia 3-1 in their June 25 Kansas City game and took the field in the Round of 32 elimination stage, played Morocco June 29 in Monterrey Stadium then lost that match 3-2.