What St Nicholas' Eve Means in The Netherlands
St Nicholas' Eve, known in Dutch as Sinterklaasavond or Pakjesavond ("parcel evening"), is the main gift-giving occasion of the Dutch winter holiday season. It falls on 5 December, the eve of the feast day of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas), which is celebrated on 6 December. For many families in The Netherlands, this evening — rather than Christmas — is when presents are exchanged, making it one of the most anticipated dates in the Dutch calendar.
The occasion centres on the figure of Sinterklaas, a kindly, white-bearded bishop who is said to arrive in The Netherlands from Spain by steamboat each November. His feast is associated with generosity, family togetherness, and the giving of gifts, particularly to children.
Origins
The Dutch tradition grew out of the veneration of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop in Asia Minor who became the patron saint of children and, in Dutch tradition, of sailors and merchants as well. His feast day of 6 December was long observed across medieval Europe, and in the Low Countries it developed its own distinctive customs over the centuries.
After the Protestant Reformation, public celebration of saints' days was suppressed in the Dutch Republic, but the Sinterklaas tradition survived as a domestic, family-centred custom rather than a church festival. Over time it absorbed folk elements — the bishop's arrival by boat, his white horse, and his helpers — into the form familiar today. Dutch emigrants carried the figure to other parts of the world, where he contributed to the development of the American Santa Claus.
Customs and Traditions
- The arrival (intocht): Sinterklaas is traditionally said to arrive in The Netherlands by steamboat from Spain in mid-November. His arrival is marked by parades in towns and cities, often broadcast on television, and is treated as the informal start of the Sinterklaas season.
- The horse and the helpers: Sinterklaas rides a white horse, traditionally named Amerigo in modern tellings, and is accompanied by his helpers, known as Zwarte Pieten. The portrayal of these helpers has been the subject of sustained public debate and change in recent years, with many municipalities and broadcasters adopting alternative figures such as "Roetveegpieten" (soot-smudged helpers).
- Putting out a shoe: From the time of his arrival until 5 December, children set out a shoe — often by the fireplace or a door — sometimes with a carrot or hay for the horse and a drawing or wish list. In the morning the shoe may contain a small treat or gift.
- Pakjesavond: On the evening of 5 December, families gather for Pakjesavond. Presents are typically left in a sack or basket, or hidden around the house, and are opened amid games, songs, and riddles.
- Surprises and poems: A distinctive Dutch custom is the surprise — an elaborately crafted, often humorous homemade wrapping or construction that conceals a gift — accompanied by a Sinterklaasgedicht, a short comic poem about the recipient. This is especially common among adults, friends, and colleagues.
- Songs: Traditional Sinterklaas songs (sinterklaasliedjes) are sung during the season, particularly by children, both at home and at school.
Food and Drink
- Pepernoten and kruidnoten: Small spiced biscuits are the signature Sinterklaas treat. Kruidnoten are the hard, round, spice-flavoured biscuits commonly scattered or handed out during the season; the terms pepernoten and kruidnoten are often used interchangeably in everyday speech.
- Chocolate letters: Chocolate initials (chocoladeletters) are given as gifts, usually matching the recipient's first name.
- Speculaas: Spiced biscuits and figurines, often shaped like Sinterklaas or other figures, are widely eaten during the period.
- Banketstaaf and banketletter: Pastries made of puff pastry filled with almond paste (amandelspijs), shaped as a log or a letter, are traditional treats.
- Marzipan: Shaped marzipan figures (marsepein) are a common seasonal sweet.
- Hot chocolate and warm drinks: Warm beverages are typically served alongside these sweets during the cold December evenings.
Religious and Civic Observances
Although Saint Nicholas was a bishop and the feast has religious roots, in contemporary The Netherlands Sinterklaas is primarily a secular, family-oriented celebration. It is not a public holiday, and schools and businesses generally remain open on 5 and 6 December. Churches may still mark the saint's feast day on 6 December, but the dominant observance is domestic and commercial rather than religious.
The season is also a major fixture in Dutch public life: television broadcasts the national arrival, shops fill with seasonal goods from mid-November, and schools, sports clubs, and workplaces often organise their own Sinterklaas activities, including gift exchanges with poems and surprises.
Regional Variations
Sinterklaas is celebrated throughout The Netherlands, and the core customs — the arrival, the shoe, Pakjesavond, and the seasonal foods — are broadly shared nationwide. Local differences tend to appear in the form of municipal arrival parades, which vary in size and character from city to city, and in the specific local traditions maintained by individual towns and schools. The tradition is also observed in Dutch-speaking Belgium and in Dutch communities abroad, though the emphasis and timing of gift-giving can differ from the Dutch pattern.