27-11-2009 om 12:00 by Amanda Potter

As soon as the weather gets cool here in Maastricht, the holiday garlands, lights, and candy comes out for the winter holidays.  It may seem early if you are not from the Netherlands, but everyone is really just getting ready for Sinterklaas on December 5th.

About the Holiday

Sinterklaas is traditionally the celebration of St. Nicholas’ birthday. In the tradition of Dutch birthdays where the celebrant provides the cake to share with his or her colleagues, St. Nicholas (Sint Nicolaas in Dutch) gives gifts to children who have been good for the whole year. Starting on November 14th, he travels around the Netherlands with his entourage of helpers, Zwarte Piet (Black Peters), to make sure the kids have been good before delivering a bag of gifts on December 5th. On December 6th he heads home to Spain by steamboat where he resides the rest of the year in his castle.

As you might imagine, Sinterklaas is the primary gift-giving holiday in the Netherlands and it is heavily focused on gift-giving for children. Between November 14 and December 5, children will leave out wooden shoes with snacks for Sint Nicolaas’ horse and wine or milk for the man himself. In the morning the shoe is filled with small treats. On December 5 the family spends the day together and enjoys a holiday feast. Then a mysterious knock comes on the door and gifts are left in a bag for the children. Adults typically will exchange a smaller number of gifts  with fanciful wrapping and original short, rhyming poems about the recipient. Children’s gifts also have a poem attached.

Candy & Treats

Although Sinterklaas is considered to be less commercial than Christmas in the United States, the candy and decorations are the most prominent aspects of the holiday for those of us not living in a Dutch family. Traditional Sinterklaas candy includes chocolate letters, marzipan, sugar mice and frogs, and geld (chocolate coins). Like the chocolate Easter bunnies, you can also buy huge chocolate versions of Sint Nicolaas and Zwarte Piet. Since Maastricht has many chocolate shops, there is no excuse not to find something fun and made from high-quality candy.

Non-candy foods for the holiday include speculaas cookies (windmill cookies in the US), almond paste breads, and Oliebollen.

Activities In & Near Maastricht
Get into the holiday spirit in Maastricht by attending the Maastricht Winterland Fair on the Vrijthof and watching Sint Nicolaas’ progress at the Sinterklaas Journal even if you missed his local visit on November 14th.  Valkenburg also has two large Christmas Markets this time of year inside of their local marl caves.

Bibliography Not Linked Above
Sinterklaas in Maastricht
Wikipedia: Sinterklaas
Christmas in the Netherlands, 19/12/2008
Sint Comes To Town, 16/11/2008
Sinterklaas Survival Guide, 05/12/2009

This article is reprinted from Maastricht Minutiae and the original may be read here.

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