Sinterklaas Avond

Because we're Dutch we celebrate Sinterkaas Avond on the evening of December 5.

Sinterklaas (also called Sint-Nicolaas in Dutch (pronunciation (help·info)) and Saint Nicolas in French) is a holiday tradition in the Netherlands and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve (December 5) or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6. The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of, among other things, children.

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve, (December 5) is the chief occasion for gift-giving. The evening is called pakjesavond ("presents' evening"). Traditionally, presents are ingeniously wrapped, and are therefore called surprises. Also, presents are traditionally accompanied by a poem from Saint Nicholas.

Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It was during the American War of Independence, that the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam) which had been swapped by the Dutch for other territories, reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past.[1] The name Santa Claus is derived from older Dutch Sinte Klaas.

There's an excellent article on Sinterklaas in Wikipedia that goes more in depth about the traditions than what I have here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas