Sinterklaas arrives in Pella

The City of Pella celebrated the arrival of Sinterklaas — the Dutch version of Santa Claus — with a parade Saturday morning. The festivities gave Pella the chance to celebrate the Christmas spirit while honoring their unique history and heritage.

“Sinterklaas is like the Dutch Santa Claus,” says Jessi Galligan, director at Pella Historical. “He comes from Spain and visits Dutch children on the evening of Dec. 5, and then into Dec. 6 is when you would wake up and find your wooden shoes full of goodies, hopefully.”

According to Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas makes the journey across Europe on his faithful horse named O Zo Snel, which translates to “Oh so fast” in English.

“The tradition is that you set your wooden shoes outside your front door full of carrots for Sinterklaas’ horse, and then he comes and replaces those carrots with goodies, candy, cookies and things like that for good children of the Netherlands,” Galligan says. “Obviously, since Pella is of such a Dutch heritage, it’s fun to be able to celebrate that tradition here as well.”

This year approximately 130 local children gathered at the Scholte church in Pella to meet Sinterklaas and welcome him to town following the annual parade, which hundreds gathered to enjoy, according to Galligan. Pella Historical gave the children goodie bags that included candy canes, a treat from Jaarsma Bakery, coloring pages featuring Sinterklaas and O Zo Snel, and colored pencils.

The Sinterklaas legend is just one manifestation of the historic figure Saint Nicholas of Myra. Originally from Asia Minor, Saint Nicholas was a fourth century Christian bishop who was known for his generosity and gift-giving to the poor. Today he is known, among other things, as the patron saint of children.

The Dutch spun the historical account of Saint Nicholas into the legend of Sinterklaas, the kindly man with the “Oh so fast” horse who rewarded good little children with special treats on his religious feast day, Dec. 6. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Dutch are credited with bringing the Sinterklaas tradition with them when they began migrating to North America as early as the 17th century.

Over the years, the tradition of giving gifts has shifted to coincide with Christmas Day on Dec. 25, but the people of Pella still mark the original Sinterklaas feast day with a parade in his honor the first weekend in December.