Christmas Traditions In The Netherlands

The Christmas traditions in the Netherlands are wonderful because they separate the celebration of Santa Claus (Sinterklaas or St. Nicolaas) from the celebration of the Savior's birth. Here, SinterKlaas comes on December 5th, bringing gifts and goodies. All the gift shopping is pretty much concluded by then.  Then there is three weeks to contemplate the birth of the Savior and celebrate Christmas which is done with Christmas trees, Christmas carols, etc. culminating in Christmas concerts in the Church's and wonderful family dinners on December 25th.  In Deventer they also have a Dicken's Festival for two days in December (this year on the 19th and 20th) where many residents dress in Dickens Era costumes (old English) and there are concerts, and parades and shows.  The Dickens festival has become so well known that hundreds of thousands of people come to Deventer to participate, from all over Europe.  They have to control the crowds limiting the number of people that can enter the area  and we are told the wait can sometimes be 1 1/2 to 2 hours, just to be allowed to enter the area of the city where the festival takes place.

Anyway, back to Sinterklaas. Tradition has it that SinterKlaas or St. Nikolaas, a Catholic Saint from Spain, arrives in Holland on a boat from Spain.  He then rides through the streets on a white horse, accompanied by a bunch of helpers called Zwarte Pete's (Black Pete's), all colorfully dressed, singing, dancing, and handing out treats to the children.  The evening of the 5th, the children set their shoes outside their door with treats for Sinterklaas' horse (apples, carrots, etc.).  Then, during the night, Sinterklaas comes and leaves gifts and treats for the family.

In Deventer, where we are serving, the arrival of Sinterklaas on December 5th was a major event. We live next to the Ijssle river (pronounced ice 'l) which is a major inland waterway for shipping and a perfect river for Sinterklaas to arrive on.  On December 5th we went down to the river to watch the arrival of the good Saint.  The festivities started about 9:00 a.m. Sinterklaas music played over loud speakers and two hosts with microphones communicated with the gathering crowd.  By 9:30 a.m. the river was lined with 1,000's of excited children and their parents.  Many of the young children were dressed in Zwarte Pete costumes. By 9:30 a.m. boats started arriving with dozens of Zwarte Pete's on each boat, some with bands playing.  There were even speed boats with Zwarte Pete's zipping around the area. The boats circled the area with the Zwarte Pete's dancing and waving to the crowd. It was fun to see the excitement of the children as they danced around and sang Sinterklaas songs with the music being broadcast and awaited the arrival of Sinterklaas.  Finally, about 10:00 a.m. the boat from Spain arrived with the good Saint on board. After leaving the boat he walked up and down the river, greeting children, while the host of Zwarte Pete's moved through the crowd handing out handfulls of candy and goodies to the children.  Then it was off to the city where there were carnivals and bounce houses and toys for the children and a Sinterklaas parade presided over by the good Saint on a white horse.

I have attached some photos of Sinterklaas, the Zwarte Pete's and the parade.