Christmas in Holland
Christmas around the world is a wonderful time of year for getting together with friends and family and sharing in different Christmas traditions around the world. Wherever you spend your Christmas around the world it should serve as a gentle reminder of peace and all that you and your family hold dear.
The good cheer expressed through celebrations and Christmas traditions around the world is a common bond that we all share no matter where we might have our Christmas around the world. In Holland the Christmas season starts in November with the arrival of St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas who arrives in his Bishop’s robe (with gifts) traveling by boat with his assistant Black Peter who wears Spanish clothes.
Belief says that the two spend most of the year checking on children’s behavior and preparing lists of presents for the deserving children. St. Nicholas arrives at the Amsterdam docks where many people greet him and Black Peter, after their arrival St. Nicholas than mounts a snow horse and rides through the Amsterdam streets in a great parade.
December 5th is Sinterklaas Eve and this is the day that presents are given and received. A popular tradition every year is the Dutch farmers blowing their long horns at sunset every evening during the Christmas season to announce the coming of Christmas.
Like many a Christmas around the world, Christmas Day in Holland is a religious holiday. On Christmas Day church services are attended followed by an afternoon spent around the Christmas tree singing carols and telling stories.
