They dress in 16th-century clothes featuring a large, ruffled collar. Some will say that his face is black from climbing down chimneys to deliver presents for Sinterklaas. Either way, the idea of Zwarte Piet has been called racist by some, so many Zwarte Piet have evolved from full blackface to a few soot marks.
Sage Advice: Experience more Dutch culture with this off-the-beaten-path bike tour of Amsterdam. Rather than hanging stockings, well-behaved Dutch children leave wooden shoes out for Sinterklaas to fill. Zwarte Piet carries a bag filled with goodies, usually chocolate coins and mandarin oranges. The sack of gifts, in particular the gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins , are symbolic of the assistance Saint Nicholas gave a poor father back in the 3rd Century. To save the young women from the alternative — a life of prostitution — Sinterklaas dropped three sacks of gold coins down the chimney.
Nearly everyone receives a large chocolate letter of their first initial in their wooden shoes from Sinterklaas. Chocolate and pastry shop windows are full of marzipan delights at Christmastime, shaping the almond paste into everything from fruits to animals.
Most Dutch people make or purchase Kerstkransjes, wreath-shaped almond cookies tied with a ribbon that are hung on the Christmas tree. As you might expect, these usually quickly disappear soon after the tree is trimmed with only the ribbons remaining. A thick, brandy-spiked variation of eggnog called Advocaat is often served over the holidays.
The Dutch celebrate Christmas over two public holidays on both the 25th and 26th of December. About as classy as Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer , is a Dutch Christmas song about a boy looking for his lost rabbit that ends up being served for Christmas dinner. Because children have already received presents from Sinterklaas earlier in the month, Christmas is typically celebrated by spending time with family. Each of the two days of Christmas is usually celebrated with lots of food.
As a country of sailors with a long coastline, fish is often featured on Christmas including mussels, sea shrimp, salmon, and eel. But the Christmas meal can also feature a roasted bird turkey, chicken, duck, or goose , rabbit hopefully not the one being searched for in 18 , or a rollade thin slices of beef, pork, or chicken that are stuffed, rolled, and roasted.
In rural eastern areas of the country, handmade horns are carved out of birch or elder saplings. Dutch Christmas decorations come down on January 6th with the Feast of the Epiphany. Beyond the Netherlands, Sinterklaas is also celebrated in Dutch territories like Aruba. Does your family honor one of these Dutch traditions? Share your experiences in the comments section below! Celebrate Christmas Around the World. Without leaving the United States.
Visiting Europe for the First Time. Dutch Treats. This is great! I loved learning all about Sinterklaas! I like the idea of Christmas being separated from the gift-giving, but find the story about the rabbit much more disturbing than Grandma and a reindeer. I know a friend whose dad served his pet rabbit for dinner. Yeah, the over-commercialization of Christmas is a real turnoff for me.
But rabbit is probably even more not my thing…. I wonder which American traditions seem strange to everyone else. Thank you for this information. Now I understand why my Dutch mother in-law always gives us large chocolate alphabets , gold foil wrapped chocolate coins, peppermint coins and gingerbread at Christmas. I love it! And we love her!! How do the Dutch celebrate Christmas? It is almost Christmas.
And of course the Dutch have their own way of celebrating it. So what is typically Dutch about celebrating Christmas in the Netherlands? The expats in this video discovered some differences and guess what?
Foreigners like the Dutch kerstmis! Christmas period The Christmas season starts on the 5th or sometimes 6th of December , the day after the last most important Sinterklaas celebration when children receive their presents. Dutch Christmas tradition 2: sending cards to family and friends Another one of the Christmas traditions in the Netherlands is to send Christmas cards to family and friends. Dutch Christmas tradition 4: going to Church on Christmas eve Because it is originally a Christian celebration, many people go to church over Christmas.
Christmas eve Kerstavond As some students say in the video, Christmas Eve is mostly for meeting with friends. Dutch Christmas tradition 5: Christmas shopping and Christmas markets Traditionally people go shopping in the weeks before Christmas, to buy presents for each other.
Christmas market in Maastricht Over Christmas there are also a lot of Christmas markets. Dutch Christmas tradition 7: Two days! What do the Dutch do at Christmas? Dutch Christmas tradition 9: Presents Over Christmas when only a few presents are given, there are different ways of giving them. On the other hand there are the romantic comedy movies like Mannenharten and Alles is Familie Is Christmas in the Netherlands a good time?
Most people in the country say, yes! You can always reset the cookies, using the button in the footer. Accept cookies Decline cookies. Cookie settings Below you can choose which kind of cookies you allow on this website. Sinterklaas Avond celebrations actually begin several weeks before December 5 on the first Saturday after November Sinterklaas is believed to live in Madrid, Spain, and he arrives with great fanfare on a steamship at the start of the holiday season.
Amsterdam and other port cities generally hold great celebrations to herald his arrival, including parades, ringing church bells, and children's parties. Sinterklaas is accompanied by his assistant Black Peter Zwarte Piet , who is dressed in 16th century Spanish attire to symbolize Spain's dominance over the Netherlands during that era.
But Black Peter's face is covered with soot and he rides a mule, a stark contrast to the more joyous colors of Sinterklaas's red robes and white horse. It is Black Peter who goes down each home's chimney to leave gifts for the children, though in some legends he is also said to punish disobedient children. Children in the Netherlands leave their shoes filled with hay, carrots, and sugar for Sinterklaas's horse. In the morning, the horse treats have been replaced with gifts for the children.
Rural eastern areas of the country celebrate different Christmas traditions in the Netherlands. In addition to Sinterklaas Avond celebrations, this area is well known for the midwinter hoornblazen , or midwinter horn blowing. Handmade horns, three- or four-foot horns carved from birch or elder saplings, are blown over wells to announce Advent and herald the birth of Christ. The low tone produced from these horns resonating over the wells can be heard for several miles, and it is not unusual for several farms to seem to call to one another with their horns.
In some areas, these horns may be blown each day of Advent, or they may be reserved for the first or last days of the spiritual celebration. December 25, known as Eerste Kerstdag , is still a holiday in the Netherlands. But since most gift-giving is done on Sinterklaas Avond , this day is a time for quiet church services and traditional family meals. Christmas Day is a time for family gatherings and delicious meals, including special breakfasts and formal dinners that include the food gourmetten.
Santa Claus Kerstman is believed to come from Finland on Christmas Eve and deliver small gifts but most of the major gift-giving has already been done on St. Nicholas Eve. Many people in the Netherlands have a day off work on December Banks, post offices and many businesses are closed. Depending on local government policies and customs, stores may be open or closed. Public transport services generally operate a slightly reduced service, but there may be no public transport in rural areas.
There are some restrictions on selling alcohol on December There may be some congestion around the Christmas markets, shopping malls specialized in furniture and popular visitor attractions. Epiphany commemorates the three wise men's visit to Jesus, according to the Christian bible. The day feast reflected the winter festivals in Europe during pre-Christian times. The December 26 holiday is now all that remains of the long feast.
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