Christmas in Amsterdam, as an expat parent.
When Amsterdam goes peak gezellig…
The first thing to know about celebrating Christmas and the holiday season in the Netherlands, is that it is different. Not different in the way the French have Bûche de Noëll, whilst the Brits have mince pies. Nope, in the Netherlands they don’t do Father Christmas, they do Sint-Nicolaas, aka Sinterklaas, and he doesn’t come from the North Pole on his sleigh, he comes from Spain, on a steamboat, with live TV coverage. Sound familiar? No I thought not.
Festivities start in autumnal mid-November, when the regal Sinterklaas arrives on the Amstel in his steamboat greeted by large crowds of cheering children and on the evening of the 5th December many Dutch families get together, eat kruidnoten (think small pumpkin spice cookies) along with other sweat treats and children receive a stocking filled with gifts. The next day Sinterklaas gets back on to his steamboat and departs for sunnier climes. So whilst many other countries are now gearing up to the big day, in the Netherlands the big event is over and for children it feels more like the wind-down till the school holidays. There might be some Christmas tree activity at school and young children in Dutch schools often do a very sweet Christmas dinner in their classrooms, with much excitement as it’s in the evening, but there is definitely less of a Christmas frenzy than in many other countries.
For many international parents however, it is fair to say December is an eventful month, living in a country with quite different festive traditions, whilst many also celebrating Christmas with their own traditions (and Father Christmas) and indeed other holidays that fall at the same time, such as Channukah. It is of course completely down to personal preference how you wish to navigate it all with your own children. Each family takes their own approach, but it is certainly a busy period, especially for children who will be processing all the different, but also not so different celebrations, involving lots of presents, sugary foods, songs and excitement. Luckily there is a nice long ‘Kerstvakantie’ to relax and unwind.
Whilst some expat families go back to their home countries to celebrate Christmas and the holidays, there are many who choose to stay in Amsterdam. There are number of festive events for children, top ones being the all singing, all dancing, Gelderlandeplein Winter Parade (with Father Christmas himself) and the family Christmas concert at the Concertgebouw. If you can stomach the Christmas “on steroids” Winter Paradise at the Rai, this should also be on your ‘to do list.’ No-one does ‘cosy’ like the Dutch and they make Christmas a really ‘gezellig’ experience. Amsterdam truly sparkles and Christmas trees and decorations are in no short supply across the city. Head to Osdorp Tuin Centrum if you want the full works Christmas decoration shopping experience!
On the culinary front, whilst Dutch families often get together over Christmas, they don’t really have a traditional festive meal with staple foods in the same way many other countries have. Some people do “gourmetten,” so grilling small pieces of meat on a hot plate, but there really seems to be little uniformity around a traditional festive meal, in the same way the majority of Brits sit down to Turkey on the 25th. That said, the Dutch excel at baked treats at Christmas and the bakeries are filled with delicious offerings such as kerststol, banketstaaf and the more kid friendly speculaas cookies. So whilst you will most definitely find yourself indulging in the local treats, you also won’t have much difficulty finding your classic festive home-favourites. For example, various Albert Heijn’s sell mince pies, stollen and gingerbread houses, (personally for delicious freshly baked mince pies i’d go to Brittons Bakery), you can pre-order a turkey from various places such as Laura’s Poelier, Kelly’s Expat Shop has everything from mince filling, advent calendars to egg-nog, panettone is sold everywhere and L’Amuse does a seriously good range of French and British cheeses.
Whilst Christmas is done a little differently here, rest assured, wherever you are from, it’s still easy to create a home away from home for the holiday season in Amsterdam. With some kruidnoten on the side…
