It's the 5th of december and that means it's 'Sinterklaas Feest' over here in the Netherlands and Belgium. So I thought I'd share this wonderful tradition with you.
Bram van der Vlugt as Sinterklaas, for many people this is the real Sinterklaas. He does various shows on television.Sinterkaas, or Saint Nicholas, lives in Spain and comes to The Netherlands and Belgium every year in november and stays here till the 5th of December. His mode of transportation is an old-fashioned steamboat know as Pakjesboot 12 (or 'Present Boat 12'). On this boat are a lot of presents and candies for the kids.
He has a lot of helpers, know as Zwarte Pieten in Dutch. Zwarte Pieten are quite jolly and always happy. They have black faces, because they enter the homes of kids via the chimney and soot makes their faces black.
They enter the houses to leave presents and candy in or near the kids' shoes. Kids leave their shoe near the fireplace or door (if they don't have a fireplace) and sing songs for Sinterklaas. Over night Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Pieten travel over the roofs of the houses to fill all shoes.
Sinterklaas also has a horse, named Amerigo. He uses this horse to ride on the roofs. The Zwarte Pieten are much younger and don't need the help of a horse, they can walk of the roofs themselves.
Erik van Muiswinkel as Hoofd Piet, the most important of all Zwarte Pieten. He is the second in command, just below Sinterklaas himself.Sinterklaas also has a big, red book. In this book he writes every child's name and what they want for the 5th of december. He may or may not check it twice.
On the 5th of december is Pakjes Avond or Presents Night. This is when the kids sing a lot of songs and Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet visits their houses. Well, most kids don't get to see them, because they knock on the door and leave the presents in front of the houses before they leave.
Inside the huge bag are the presents, but also candy and chocolate letters (usually the first letter of the kids name or the more neutral the S for Sinterkaas, the P for Piet, the M for mama (mom/mum) or de P for Papa (dad). Also, not every letter in the alphabet gets made, mostly rare letters like Z or Y get left out.)
After the presents are opened, another song is sang to thank Sinterklaas for the gifts.
Pakjesboot 12 with Sinterklaas and various Zwarte Pieten as it appeared on national television during the arrival of Sinterklaas.Their is much controversy over this age old tradition. Zwarte Piet would be racist because of it's black skin, their big, red lips and their overall happy and quite stupid nature. Some people would like to replace the term Zwarte Piet with just Piet (that's what they are called normally anyway, most Zwarte Pieten have individual names, anyway) or would like to color them in different colors (rendering the story about how the soot in the chimneys color them black useless).
Overall I really enjoy this tradition. It's something not a lot of countries have, only the Dutch speaking countries.
Yeah, it may be controversial but the kids love it and that's what's important here.
And last but not least, according to some sources Sinterklaas is what inspired Santa Clause.
When comparing Sinterklaas with Santa Clause, you can see the similarities!
