Posted in Caribbean, tagged caribbean, Christmas, Parade, Tradition on December 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »
There’s a little Caribbean island – one which you may not have heard about before – and every dusk for the nine mornings before Christmas as the sun starts to rise, all who live there flock into the streets to hear the sound of drums and steel bands filling the air.
Samuel and HermieAndrews, 75 and 70, talk about their memories of a St. Vincentian Christmas, and the Nine Morning Walk.
Lalah-Simone Springer
Posted in Spain, tagged Parade, Spain, three kings, Tradition on December 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »
King Gaspar by RLasaosa
If you are going to spend your Christmas Holidays in Spain remember that you have to wait until the 6th of January to get your presents! This day is, according to the Bible, when the Three Kings arrived in Bethelem and gave Jesus presents. So Spanish kids receive their presents the same day as him after having writted them a letter with their requests.
The night before, a lot of parades take place all arround the country. The Three Kings arrive riding camels and giving sweets and toys to everybody. After that, instead of coming down throw the chimeney as Santa, they use their magic to appear in the houses and leave the presents beneath the Christmas Tree.
Posted in the Netherlands, tagged Dutch, Hema, KK Outlet, Netherlands, Parade, Sinterklaas, Tradition on November 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Sinterklaas pops up in London
Where?
KK Outlet
42 Hoxton Square
London, N16PB
+44 20 7033 7680
When?
Special Sinterklaas Event: Thursday 2 December, 7 – 9 pm
HEMA Collaboration: 3 – 22 December
About
An old man on a white horse, poems, chocolate type and a lot of gingerbread-ish candy will be arriving at the KK Outlet on Hoxton Square very soon. Why? Because it’s Sinterklaas. I can hear you think: “Say what?!” It’s Sinterklaas, a saint that kind of look like an anorexic Santa Claus.
Basically, Sinterklaas does the same as Santa Claus: he rewards the well behaved children with candy and presents. Sinterklaas doesn’t have a sleigh, he has a boat and a white horse. Sinterklaas doesn’t have Rudolph, he has Piet, a (quite controversial) helper. Sinterklaas doesn’t come from a cold, icy, secret place, he comes from Spain. Even though there are a lot of differences, Santa Claus is originally Sinterklaas; Dutch immigrants brought the tradition to America.
Between mid-November and 5 December there Sinterklaas parades across all of Holland, and now there will be one in London as well! KK Outlet and HEMA will recreate a typical parade on Hoxton Square on Thursday 2 December. Including Sinterklaas on a horseback, leaving a spare shoe in the gallery overnight which will be filled with gifts from Sinterklaas and chocolate type.
Besides, there’ll be an exhibition of the best Sinterklaas related oddities, from a large wall of chocolate typeface to the best festive designs and products provided by HEMA and available to buy.
So what’s HEMA?
Well, HEMA is an award-winning Dutch department store. Picture a cross between IKEA, Woolworths and Muji, or just look at their website, it speaks for itself.
The special Sinterklaas event will be on the 2nd of December. The exhibition and display of HEMA products will run throughout December and is open to all.
~ By Steffi Posthumus
Global Xmas 