In November 2006, my band was in the midst of a European tour. Though we loved exploring unfamiliar cities, we ached for the comforts of home as the holidays approached. None of us were from the same ...

Every year around Christmas, Belgium and the Netherlands enter a discussion about the controversial tradition of Zwarte Piet. The "celebration" involves adults and children painting themselves black, ...

Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) ended its national campaign on December 5, declaring its mission largely accomplished, just as ...

While many Europeans will wait until the end of December for their Christmas celebrations, the Dutch have already got going. This evening (5 December) signifies the Sinterklaas evening with the ...

It’s not only in America that the nationalist, populist debate is raging onward — as exemplified in this year’s U.S. presidential elections. There’s plenty of a similar nature going on in the rest of ...

Cherished Christmas tradition for some, profoundly insulting for others, the Dutch character "Black Pete", a servant who ...

Saturday marks the feast day of St. Nicholas. The day prior is one of the most festive occasions in the Netherlands: the apex of the nation's tradition of Sinterklaas, when the progenitor of the ...

Sinterklaas is the Dutch iteration of the classic Saint Nicholas legend, often called the “De Sint.” Unlike his American counterpart, Sinterklaas wears a more traditional bishop garb and delivers ...

EVERY year on December 5th and 6th, tens of thousands of Dutch people paint their faces black, don Renaissance-style jerkins and pantaloons, and assume the persona of Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete"). The ...

HOLLAND, MI – The Holland Area Convention & Visitors Bureau touts an annual Sinterklaas Eve Procession as a "Dutch folk tradition." But it's not exactly that. While the custom in The Netherlands to ...

Niels van der Laan, the actor who plays the role of “chief Piet” in the televised news story leading up to the Sinterklaas ...