The official national Sinterklaas intocht (arrival event) is taking place on Saturday. But due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the lieve goede Sint will be arriving in Zwalk - a fictional town that was chosen to ensure there wouldn’t be any crowds at the event. 

The national Sinterklaas intocht

Over the past few months, a number of Dutch cities have cancelled or reworked their Sinterklaas arrival events, as government coronavirus restrictions make it impossible for large crowds to welcome the beloved figure to the country. Children up and down the country have been worried about what effect coronavirus could have on this traditional Dutch holiday. 

But, luckily, Sinterklaas has announced that will be able to travel to the Netherlands safely. On Monday, during the first episode of the children’s news show Sinterklaasjournaal, it was announced that Sint’s steamboat would dock in Zwalk, and while there will be no crowds in attendance, children will be able to take part in the event by sending in drawings for Sinterklaas, and watching the intocht on TV.  

Welcoming Sinterklaas to the Netherlands

The national intocht will be broadcast on NPO 3 on Saturday at 12pm, but this isn’t the only Sinterklaas event taking place on Saturday. The event in Amsterdam will be taking place at an undisclosed location - again, to prevent crowds gathering - but people will be able to watch it live on Sunday morning on the city’s local news channel, AT5. 

Amersfoort, Maastricht, and Delft will broadcast Sint’s arrival via a live stream, while Rotterdam and Den Bosch have decided to mix things up a bit this year. Rotterdam has replaced their annual intocht with a fun interactive game for children which features videos of Sint and his Pieten. And in Den Bosch, children will watch a six-part Sint-Nicolaas series at school together with their classmates.