Sinterklaas enters the country; Demonstration against Zwarte Piet in Westzaan

Sinterklaas will return to the country on Saturday. The saintly man and his entourage will arrive around noon in Hellevoetsluis in Zuid-Holland, where mayor Milène Junius will welcome them.

The national arrival in the fortified city on Haringvliet can be followed directly in an extra long broadcast of the Sinterklaas news on NTR on NPO 3. It is the first time since the coronavirus pandemic broke out that there has been a national Sinterklaas entry with the public. In the past two years there was an alternative arrival with a parade at the Grote Pietenhuis in Soestdijk Palace in Baarn. The municipality of Hellevoetsluis expects thousands of children with their parents.

Sinterklaas and his helpers will also arrive in many other places in the country this weekend. As in previous years, there is again protest against Zwarte Piet. One demonstration was announced at the arrival in Westzaan in Noord-Holland on Saturday afternoon. The municipality has designated two places where the demonstrators can make themselves heard. Protests against Zwarte Piet are also planned for next Saturday in Zaandam and Staphorst.

Activist group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) came up with a hotline last week where people can indicate whether there are still Zwarte Piets walking around in their municipality during the Sinterklaas arrival. KOZP wants to use the results next year to see where, in its opinion, action is still required against Zwarte Piet. Soot-covered Piets have now been introduced in many places, instead.

The Sinterklaas committee in Culemborg has canceled the arrival of Sinterklaas due to concerns about protest groups. Initially, the plan was for Zwarte Piet to accompany soot-covered Piet characters at the Sinterklaas event. However, the mayor of Culemborg said on Wednesday that this would entail a safety risk, citing concerns that a group would come and protest.

The Culemborg Sinterklaas committee had already decided to "bend" to the national trend of doing away with Zwarte Piet, it said. "However, a transition from Zwarte Piet to sooty Piet without frizzy hair is not a step that you can just take in a team of more than 40 enthusiastic people, who in recent years, as Zwarte Piet anonymously, have devoted themselves selflessly to this great children's party," the committee stated on its website. "And without a wig, the anonymity would be gone. There are volunteers who work at daycare centers, yes they are recognizable."

The committee did not consider only using sooty Piet characters, because "they are not allowed to wear frizzy hair either. Yes, and then the hair will turn yellow, green or purple and you might as well go and celebrate Carnival."