What is Dutch Christmas called?

Sinterklaas is a Dutch tradition that is celebrated on the evening of the 5th of December, but the traditions associated with Sinterklaas already start in November. This highly anticipated and iconic celebration is a truly exciting feast for Dutch children!

What do Dutch people call Christmas?

Christmas Day is known as 'Eerste Kerstdag' (first Christmas day) and the day after Christmas is called 'Tweede Kerstdag' (second Christmas day).

What is the Dutch version of Christmas?

Celebration. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas is a very popular tradition. The festival is celebrated by a wide range of people including Dutch Jews and Muslims, and by generally all age groups. However, a 2023 survey showed that most are "less keen" to celebrate following the controversy surrounding Zwarte Piet.

Do the Dutch celebrate Christmas twice a year?

Two days of Dutch Christmas

In the Netherlands, people start celebrating on the eve of December 24th (kerstavond), and continue the the celebrations on the 25th and the 26th of December.

Why do the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas?

The festival bearing his name, Sinterklaas, celebrates the Feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6 and the legend begins with the good bishop being such a compassionate soul that he throws coins through the window of an impoverished man.

Christmas in the Netherlands: Discover the Dutch Christmas traditions

Are Santa Claus and Sinterklaas the same?

Santa Claus is the American version of Sinterklaas, as is clearly revealed by his name: Santa Claus is a corruption of the Dutch Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas) or Sinterklaas. Besides the name, there are other similarities. Both are old, white men who distribute sacks of gifts in December, especially to children.

Do the Dutch really celebrate twice Christmas?

Unlike many other countries, the Dutch celebrate not just one but two days of Christmas: Eerste Kerstdag (First Christmas Day) on December 25th and Tweede Kerstdag (Second Christmas Day) on December 26th.

What gifts do Dutch people give at Christmas?

In the Netherlands most of the presents for children and adults are given on Sinterklaas (or Saint Nicholas) day, which is celebrated on the 5th of December. On the Christmas day, however, small presents such as socks, mugs or sweets can be given.

Who celebrates the longest Christmas in the world?

Did you know the Philippines has the longest Christmas celebration in the world? As soon as the “-ber months” start, the whole country begins to sparkle with parols, Christmas lights, and festive music playing everywhere.

What is the most famous Dutch holiday?

One of the most celebrated days in the Netherlands is King's day. During King's day, the whole population takes on to celebrate the birthday of the King; Willem Alexander. On the day of the celebration, the whole Netherlands is “painted” orange.

What is Santa's name in the Netherlands?

Santa Claus is the recycled version of Sinterklaas that Dutch/German emigrants took with them to the new world back then. Saint Nicolas (fr) = Sinterklaas (nl) = Saint Nicholas (en) celebrated on the 6th of December.

What do Dutch people eat on Christmas Eve?

Sinterklaas falls on the eve of Saint Nicolas Day. It's the main celebration and is basically the Dutch version of Christmas Eve. Lots of Sinterklaas-related food items are eaten around this time, such as chocolate letters, pepernoten and marzipan figurines.

What do you leave for Sinterklaas?

Before going to bed, children each leave a single shoe next to the fireplace or a door, with a carrot for Sinterklaas' horse. The next day they find little gifts left by Sinteklauss. Traditional treats include mandarins and oranges, baked pastry letters and more recently chocolate letters.

What is Danish Christmas called?

What is Christmas called in Denmark? In Danish, the word for Christmas is Jul. Before Christianity, Jól was celebrated by Danes and Scandianvians on the coldest full moon of the year. In English, Yule or Yuletide is still used.

How do you say Santa in Dutch?

The Dutch now also know Santa Claus (or the Kerstman as we call him in Dutch).

What country has 13 days of Christmas?

The 12 Days of Christmas in the English carol are about gifts received after Christmas. In Iceland, they are about trolls or half-trolls. We have thirteen brothers, also known as the Yule Lads or jólasveinarnir, who visit children, one at a time, every night from the 12th to the 24th of December.

Which country has the best Christmas in the world?

Which country didn't celebrate Christmas?

Countries in which Christmas is not a formal public holiday include Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (excepting Hong Kong and Macau), the Comoros, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, the Maldives, Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, the Sahrawi Republic, ...

What do Dutch people buy the most?

Dutch people aged 12 years or older most frequently bought clothes, sporting goods, shoes or accessories such as bags and jewellery (59 percent) in the three months prior to the survey1 'ICT use by households and individuals', which was held in the months April to July 2021.

What is the symbol of Christmas in the Netherlands?

Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, predates and inspires the modern-day figure of Santa Claus. This unique Dutch Christmas tradition includes Sinterklaas' trusty sidekick, Black Peter or Zwarte Piet, who is believed to go down chimneys to leave presents for children.

What do Dutch children put out at Christmas?

Before going to bed in the evening children put their shoes next to the fireplace or outside the front door in the hopes that Sinterklaas will leave a sweet treat in their shoe. In their shoe, they leave a carrot or some hay and a bowl of water nearby "for Sinterklaas' horse", and the children sing a Sinterklaas song.

What are Dutch Christmas superstitions?

For example: many people believed that if the ground was white at Christmas it would be green at Easter. Or if the geese waddled in mud between Christmas and New Year they will do so every single month of the following year, (i.e. it will be a wet and rainy year).

What do the Dutch call Santa?

According to tradition, St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas in Dutch), a 4th century bishop, appears on the night of December 5-6 loaded with gifts for Dutch children, accompanied by his curious pages, the Zwarte Pieten (Black Peters).

What is it called 12 days after Christmas?

Epiphany (/əˈpɪfəni/ ə-PIF-ə-nee), also known as "Theophany" in Eastern Christian tradition, is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana. Epiphany. The Adoration of the Magi by Edward Burne-Jones (1894)