Sinterklaas arrives in Antwerp and has good news: “There are no naughty children this year” (Antwerp)

Because he was prepared for the extra border controls that the Netherlands had announced, Sinterklaas had taken some extra margin to be able to dock in Antwerp on time. Finally, it was around 1:50 PM that his beautifully decorated boat was spotted on the Scheldt from the Steenplein, where a large crowd of children were already ready to welcome him.

James (7) and Jack (8) had come to the parade with their grandmother Annemie Frederickx. “We also live on a boat. We have made a trip around the world and our sailing ship is now in Antwerp. This year we definitely wanted to come and watch the arrival of Sinterklaas,” they say.

Little Jules (4) sits on the shoulders of his daddy Ivan Poggi. “Last year Jules de Sint had one high five given, so he hopes to be able to do that again this year,” says Ivan. “He has already made a drawing for him.”

Marta (3) from Mortsel sits on the shoulders of her mother Greet Van Cauwelaert. “She wanted to dress up as Sinterklaas,” she laughs. An additional advantage is that the cape is Nice and warm. “The stores have been celebrating Sinterklaas for weeks, but we deliberately waited until this weekend to start talking about it.”

“The stores have been celebrating Sinterklaas for weeks, but we deliberately waited until this weekend to start talking about it”

Greet Van Cauwelaert

Marta’s mom

Traditionally, Sinterklaas was welcomed by Bart Peeters and Mayor Bart De Wever, who knows, maybe for the last time, that will depend on the restarted government negotiations. The exact words exchanged between Sinterklaas and Bart De Wever were not audible to the audience on Steenplein, but it could well be that the mayor proudly told Sinterklaas that he also has his own film in the cinema this year.

Nice tradition

Children were ready to cheer on Sinterklaas along the entire route to the Town Hall. Ruben Abdala, his wife Sthefany and their children Elena (2) and Leonardo (6) from Schoten had been waiting for an hour before Santa Claus arrived in the Suikerrui. “We wanted to be there, it is a beautiful tradition,” says Ruben. Elena hopes to get a mandarin orange from Sinterklaas, Leonardo will put a dinosaur on his wish list. “Not a real one, but one of those heads with slime in it,” he explains.

Only from the balcony of the Town Hall did Sinterklaas deliver the message that everyone had come for: that there are no naughty children. And like every year, he misinterpreted some passages from his great book. Fortunately, Kyran had not bullied his grandfather, but had squeezed oranges for him. Emieltje had not shown his dad the door, but had pointed to the door as an ideal place to hang the decorations for his grandmother’s sixtieth birthday. And Amina hadn’t set her mother’s hair on fire, but she had put it up. And so everything turned out fine.

“Sinterklaas would really appreciate it if you prepared drawings for us. Then we will come and get it soon,” he told the audience. A reassuring message for the children who were unable to deliver their drawing in person.