While many Europeans will wait until the end of December for their Christmas celebrations, the Dutch have already started theirs. This evening, December 5th, marks Sinterklaas evening, with the following day celebrated as the Feast of Sinterklaas for Dutch people in the Netherlands, Belgium, and around the world. As Dutch people prepare to celebrate Sinterklaas once again, it’s worth exploring the traditions and how they have evolved over time. Notably, there’s the ongoing debate about the Netherlands’ complex relationship with the controversial figure Zwarte Piet.
Sinterklaas is Dutch for Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children believed to have died on December 6, 343. The Greek bishop of Myra, now present-day Türkiye, is renowned worldwide for his charitable deeds to the poor and needy. You might know him from the character he inspired—Santa Claus. The Dutch have been celebrating the feast of Sinterklaas for at least 700 years. Since the 19th century, they’ve also regularly celebrated Sinterklaas’ arrival from Spain by boat, a tradition that began in Zwolle in 1873 when a local dressed as the saint distributed sweets to children. Today, Sinterklaas’ arrival by boat and the subsequent parade are massive televised events across the Dutch-speaking world, typically held on the first Saturday after November 11th.
Tonight, as Dutch families gather to celebrate, they will likely draw lots to decide who will give presents to whom. This is essentially the Sinterklaas version of a Secret Santa draw. Unlike a hastily chosen gift for a colleague at a work Christmas party, Dutch people are more likely to give a thoughtful gift to a friend or family member, accompanied by a personalized poem. These poems vary by family tradition but often include subtle insults, turning the gift-giving into an annual comedic roast of loved ones. Wrapping up disdain in the guise of cultural tradition is very Dutch.
The gifts themselves are often elaborately hidden. Think of mysterious clues leading you around the house to a pair of socks or a seemingly huge gift that turns out to be layers of tightly bound wrapping paper concealing a tiny trinket. Much like with Santa Claus at Christmas, children hope for a gift to arrive overnight from Sinterklaas. They often line up their shoes by the fireplace and pray for a sweet delight in the morning. If you want to eat like a Dutch person this Sinterklaas, two key items are pepernoten and chocoladeletters. Pepernoten are dry ginger biscuits, while chocoladeletters are chocolate in the shape of a letter, usually corresponding to the first letter of someone’s name.
However, Sinterklaas celebrations have long had a controversial element. When the saint arrives in November, he is historically accompanied by his helper Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). The origin of Zwarte Piet is disputed, with some claiming he is a Moor who has come with Sinterklaas from Spain, while others suggest his coloring is due to soot from sweeping chimneys. Whatever the explanation, Zwarte Piet has been historically represented by adults and children in Blackface makeup and an afro wig. This has unsurprisingly led to many Dutch people of color finding the tradition offensive and the celebration traumatic.
In response, Dutch activist Jerry Afriyie started the Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) movement in 2014 after years of protesting the practice. KOZP has held multiple demonstrations against Zwarte Piet, but they have not gone without resistance from conservatives who want to preserve the tradition. Afriyie has been arrested three times for demonstrating. The National Terrorism Threat Assessment Netherlands (DTN) listed his group as an “extreme left anti-racist action group” in 2017, a decision that was retracted in 2019. Suggesting that the tradition was hurtful to Black people in the Netherlands has driven some Dutch people to extreme lengths to stop KOZP protests. In 2017, multiple buses carrying KOZP protestors were blocked from reaching their destination in the Frisian region, leading to multiple convictions for the bus blockers and “blocking Frisians” becoming the word of the year in 2018.
This year, KOZP has held multiple protests, but the campaign seems to be winding down. The group cites 28 local councils who have agreed to hold inclusive Sinterklaas parades. Afriyie has said that the intention was always to wrap up the movement a decade after its founding in 2025. While KOZP has certainly made the average Dutch person more aware of the issue with Zwarte Piet since 2014, it’s hard to ignore that the movement will be retired amid the Netherlands’ most right-wing government in decades after Party for Freedom (PVV) became the largest political party in 2023.
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