Sinterklaas is one of the traditions most likely to puzzle a newcomer because it is not simply “Dutch Christmas”. The season has its own arrival, songs, shoe-setting, sweets, poems, deliberately awkward homemade surprises and a main gift evening on 5 December. It is culturally important, especially for families with children, but 5 December is not an official public holiday.
The newcomer timeline
- Mid-November: Sinterklaas traditionally arrives in the Netherlands. Local arrivals may follow the national arrival.
- Before 5 December: children may set their shoe (schoen zetten), often with a drawing or carrot, and sing a Sinterklaas song. A small present or sweet may appear later.
- 5 December: Pakjesavond is the main gift evening in many households.
- 6 December: St Nicholas Day itself, although Dutch gift-giving is strongly associated with the evening before.
Pakjesavond: presents, poems and surprises
Adult, family, school and workplace celebrations may use a draw or agreed budget. A present can come with a Sinterklaasgedicht: a rhyming poem supposedly written by Sinterklaas that affectionately exposes the recipient’s habits, mistakes or memorable events. The humour can be much more direct than newcomers expect.
Sinterklaas poem generators
If writing Dutch rhyme is intimidating, use a generator as a starting point and then personalise it. Sinterklaas-Nederland’s free gedicht generator lets you enter details about the recipient and assemble a printable poem. Sinterklaas.nl’s gedichtenhulp is another useful option. A good poem should still sound as though it was written for the actual recipient: add one recognisable anecdote, habit or gentle joke.
A surprise (pronounced roughly in the French/Dutch way, not simply the English word “surprise”) is often a homemade construction disguising the real present. It may represent the recipient’s hobby, job or running joke. The inconvenience of extracting the gift can be part of the joke.
What you will see in shops
Chocolate letters, kruidnoten, pepernoten, marzipan, filled speculaas and seasonal wrapping appear well before 5 December. In everyday speech pepernoten is often used loosely for the small crunchy spiced biscuits that are technically usually kruidnoten.
Where to shop for Sinterklaas
HEMA is an easy first stop for chocolate letters, kruidnoten, sweets, wrapping, decorations and small gifts. Primera is particularly useful for gifts, gift cards and personalised items, including chocolate gifts and personalised packaging. For a much wider choice of initials, brands, weights and luxury versions, specialist site Chocoladeletters.nl is useful for ordering chocolate letters online.
Chocolate letters: what is the difference?
The classic choice is the recipient’s first initial, usually in milk, dark or white chocolate. Shops also sell small, large, luxury, decorated, filled, nut, caramel and other flavoured versions. Compare the weight, not simply how large the letter looks: within the same manufacturer and series, differently shaped letters are normally designed to contain the same amount of chocolate. A narrow letter can therefore be thicker than a broad one. In other words, an I should not automatically mean less chocolate than an M.
Ask an Echte Bakker
De Echte Bakker is not simply Dutch for “a real baker”. It is the designation used by independent bakers admitted to the Echte Bakkersgilde and subject to its quality requirements and checks. Their seasonal ranges vary because the bakeries are independent. Around Sinterklaas, ask your local Echte Bakker about fresh speculaas, amandelletters or -staven and chocolate letters. Some member bakeries sell different sizes or offer personalised/business orders, so it is worth asking whether they can make, decorate or arrange a custom chocolate letter for you rather than assuming every shop offers the same service. Use the Echte Bakker site to find a local member.
Sinterklaas and Piet: understand the current context
The appearance and representation of Piet has changed substantially and remains socially and politically sensitive. Contemporary national and many local celebrations use soot-smudged roetveegpieten. Older blackface depictions are contested and should not be presented to newcomers as a neutral, universally accepted current custom. If you are joining a school, workplace or municipal event, follow the organisers’ current format rather than assuming older imagery is expected.
Is it Christmas?
No. Sinterklaas and Christmas coexist. Some households emphasise one, some celebrate both, and traditions vary by family. Christmas has its own meals, trees, decorations and two official public holidays on 25 and 26 December.