St Nicholas' parade Aarle-Rixtel

From the Grote Pietenhuis (Great Pete House), Head Pete announces that despite the current emergency, everything will be fine on St Nicholas' Eve this year.

And that's a good thing, because the next day, Sinterklaas and his Pieten will unfortunately be leaving the Netherlands again. Sinterklaas' birthday is on December 6th, and given the hard work he'll be doing on St Nicholas' Eve, he'll probably sleep in a bit before blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. That evening, he wants to celebrate his birthday with all the children of Laarbeek and beyond. As is tradition, he arrives by carriage at the kiosk on Kouwenberg to be sung to one last time. The Pieten and their disco wagon will, of course, be there again. Sinterklaas would love it if the children brought lanterns or other festive lights. The procession will then proceed via Dorpsstraat and Klokkengietersstraat to the Passantenhaven on the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. From there, they will depart for Spain by steamboat. Saint Nicholas and all his helpers hope that all the children will come and wave them goodbye and are already looking forward to his return to the Netherlands in November next year.