Traditions
One traditional festivity in the Netherlands is the feast of Sint Nicolaas or Sinterklaas. It is celebrated on the evening before Sinterklaas' birthday on December 5, especially in families with little children. In the United States the original figure of Dutch Sinterklaas has merged with Father Christmas into Santa Claus. In the Netherlands, gift-bringing at Christmas has in recent decades gained some popularity too, but Sinterklaas is much more popular.
A wide spread tradition is that of serving beschuit met muisjes when people come to visit a new-born baby and his mother. Beschuit is a typical Dutch type of biscuit, muisjes are sugared anise seeds.
Other traditions are often regional, such as the huge Easter Fires or celebrating the feast of Sint Maarten on the evening of November 11 when children go door to door with paper lanterns and candles, and sing songs in return for a treat. In the past self-made lanterns were used, made from a hollowed out sugar beet.
Another traditional feast of the Netherlands is Queen's day or "Koninginnedag". This is celebrated in honour of the Queen's birthday. However, this day (the 30th of April) is not the birthday of Queen Beatrix. It was the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana. The Queen decided to keep this date, because her own birthday (January, the 31st) is in the winter. Jumble sales are traditionally held in the streets of some city centres; the salespeople, including children, often wear orange clothes. The Queen and her family visit two places somewhere in the country. Those places organise a special program, displaying local folklore.
In North-Brabant, Limburg and some other parts of the Netherlands people celebrate carnival similar to the carnival of the German Rhineland.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of The Netherlands
Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“I think a Person who is thus terrifyed [sic] with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)
“And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)