Amsterdam Day 109: Sinterklaas Came to Town

The official start of the Sinterklaas season was today. Sinterklaas joined us from Spain with his Zwarte Piets. Sinterklaas enters the Netherlands by boat and then goes to all the cities by horse. He went on a long parade through the city. We live near the end of the route so we had some time to explore before he arrived. As we entered the town hall, this was our first experience with the Zwarte Piets. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Y3GKbXf7U

Here is the description from Wikipedia about the Zwarte Piets. 

Zwarte Piet (pronounced [ˈzʋɑrtə ˈpit]; English: Black Peter or Black Pete, Is the companion of Sinterklaas, in the folklore of the Low Countries. The character first appeared in his current form in an 1850 book by Jan Schenkman and is commonly depicted as a blackamoor. Traditionally Zwarte Piet is said to be black because he is a Moor from Spain. Those portraying Zwarte Piet typically put on blackface make-up and colourful Renaissance attire, in addition to curly wigs, red lipstick and earrings. In recent years, the character has become the subject of controversy, especially in the Netherlands.

The parade did arrive around 1pm. It was a longer parade than I expected and a lot more Zwarte Piets than I had expected. Most kids were wearing their Zwarte Piet hats and their Zwarte Piet clothes. 

Here is Sinterklaas riding his horse Amerigo surrounded by a lot more Zwarte Piets. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VXvvCuLd_-0

Apparently, these guys and girls will be all over the city for the next 3 weeks. They were handing out candies and small gingerbread cookies to everyone as they went by. They also placed the treats in people's hats and pockets. They candy is not individually wrapped which I thought was interesting. 

In case you are wondering, there is a makeup kit for this. And here is a pic.