Good Times: Sinterklaas Came to Town

Since arriving in the Netherlands three weeks ago, nearly every local that we have met and spoken with has told us about the impending arrival of Sinterklaas in our town of Delden. It seemed as though it was a pretty big deal, so we made plans to welcome Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet to town when they arrived via boat on the Twente Canal earlier today.

Over the last two weeks, we have been busy preparing for today's event. We bought flags, hats, and puppets to familiarize the twins with the characters, and we gathered the information that we needed to take part in today's festivities, which was harder that you might imagine. And though we had some understanding of who Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet are before we moved to the Netherlands, we also did a little online research on the history of the holiday figures and how they are celebrated.

Having grown up in homes in which St. Nick was celebrated, it wasn't difficult for us to relate to Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas). In the Netherlands, however, Sinterklaas comes to town during the third of fourth week of November and is welcomed with parades and parties. From the day Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands, children put shoes in front of their fireplaces and front doors each evening in the hopes that Sinterklaas will fill them with small presents and candy. Children often leave apples, carrots, or hay in their shoes as treats for Sinterklaas' horse. On the evening of December 5th, many Dutch families celebrate Sinterklaasavond. It is on this night (not on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day) that most presents are given. On Sinterklaasavond, the "main" presents for Dutch children will somehow arrive; either a note will be left in the house indicated where the presents were hidden by Zwarte Piet or a neighbor/family friend, pretending to be Zwarte Piet, will knock on the door and leave a bag of gifts from Sinterklaas to be opened. Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet depart without much ado on the morning of December 6th, and no more festivities are held. Christmas, then, is a much quieter holiday, reserved for worship and perhaps celebrating the holiday with a family meal.

As easy as it was for us to accept Sinterklaas as a holiday figure celebrated by the Dutch, it is much more difficult for us to make any sense of Sinterklaas' companion, Zwarte Piet (or, Black Pete). Zwarte Piet accompanies Sinterklaas on his journey through the Netherlands, amusing and handing out treats to children along the way. Zwarte Piet's roots are unclear; it has been said that he is a slave, a devil, or most recently, a chimney sweep whose blackened skin is due to a permanent layer of soot acquired from his many trips down chimneys. Whatever the explanation, the appearance of a Dutch person in blackface, an afro wig, big red lips, and large gold earrings was a shock to us. We come from a country in which such a presence would be considered horribly offensive; to see people accept this custom as a perfectly normal tradition is a challenge for us to understand. To see small children in blackface this afternoon was even more of a challenge.

Although we had done our fair share of research into today's event, we still weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into when we left our bungalow for the short walk to the Twente Canal to welcome Sinterklaas to Delden earlier today. We left early, with plenty of time to figure out exactly where to go, and wound up getting to the site of the event with forty-five minutes to spare. Coming from Milwaukee, where people camp out for several nights before a 30-minute firework display, we were in shock that we were among just a handful of people there at that time! As it turns out, getting there early did not work in our favor; the twins tired of waving their flags and clapping for the Zwarte Piets performing acrobatic stunts on the water within minutes. Fruit snacks and applesauce pouches bought us about 10 more minutes, but by the time we could finally see the boat carrying Sinterklaas and large number of Zwarte Piets down the canal, the twins were DONE! We stayed long enough to watch Sinterklaas and his helpers disembark from the boat and parade up the path to the street leading into town (while techno beats played from nearby speakers), but then headed back to our little Dutch house for some much-needed napping (and some much-needed beer). Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piets continued on to the center of the town, where a party was apparently waiting for them.

After waiting in the cold for nearly an hour for Sinterklaas to arrive on the shores of the canal, I think that I will take a wait in a long line to see Santa Claus in a hot, crowded mall any day. I am glad that we heeded the advice of the locals to attend today's festivities on the canal, but it was definitely a ONCE-in-a-lifetime experience.

Click to enlarge the pictures below:

Sinterklaas, here we come!

Will kept his Zwarte Piet hat on for all of 5 minutes.

Maddie looks to be in good spirits here, doesn't she? A half-hour later, and the girl turned into a tired, crabby MESS!

Sinterklaas is Comin' to Town!

"So...where is this guy?"

The assembling crowds were entertained by a Zwarte Piet performing acrobatic stunts high above the water.

It may be difficult to see here, but the acrobatic Piet soared high above the water to give high fives to the people waiting for Sinterklaas on the bridge.

While it was nearly as cold here today as it was in Wisconsin (BRRR!), we were nonetheless impressed that the acrobatic Piet continued to dive in and out of the water.

Will was entertained by the stunts on the water...for a short time, that is.

Maddie applauded the theatrics in front of her.

Sinterklaas has arrived!

We didn't expect so MANY Zwarte Piets!

The Zwarte Piets threw candies and small toys into the crowd of children awaiting Sinterklaas' arrival.

It may be difficult to see, but most of the children gathered on the shore of the canal came dressed in costume as either Zwarte Piet (some even in blackface) or Sinterklaas.