Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets Sail to Utrecht

One of the many advantages of traveling to new places is seeing the different ways that holidays are celebrated. When I first started telling my friends about our trip, the most common question I got was "Do you know what they do for Christmas in the Netherlands?" I didn't know, but expressed my hope that there would be some Christmas festivals and markets to visit.

When I first got to Utrecht, the city had just started hanging Christmas lights across the streets. While mid-October seemed a little early to start getting ready for Christmas, I reminded myself that with no Thanksgiving over here, Christmas is the next biggest holiday. Each week, more and more lights have gone up and as the temperature has dropped, it does feel like Christmas is just around the corner. Still, it was a bit jarring to see the coming of Santa (Sinterklass) yesterday. It wasn't because it didn't feel like time for Christmas, but because the celebration is a bit different than the one we have at home.

The Sinterklass feast is traditionally celebrated on December 6th (Saint Nicholas Day); however, Sinterklass arrives in the Netherlands by boat from Spain in mid-November. With him, he brings his Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) assistants (which are basically elves in black-face, dressed in 14th century Spanish attire). Yesterday, marked the big arrival of Sinterklass and the Zwarte Piets in the Netherlands and they marched through town to a children's festival near the big church in the center of town.

Here's a video I took of the Zwarte Piets... sorry it's kind of shaky.

We not only saw a Zwarte Piet marching band, but many children dressed like mini Zwarte Piets and little Sinterklasses.

The Zwarte Pietenbus

Between now and December 6th, good children will receive little gifts from Sinterklass, like candy or fruit. However, if you are on the "naughty list", a Zwarte Piet will stuff you in his sack and take you back to Spain (which I thought wouldn't be too terrible at all, considering it is probably quite a bit warmer there). If you'd like more information on the holiday, check out the Wikipedia pages for Sinterklass and Zwarte Piet.

Zwarte Piets