Black Peter ('Zwarte piet')
Picture by Kirti Poddar
In Belgium, the Netherlands and Northern France there is a yearly feast, celebrated on the 6th of December (in the Netherlands it is celebrated on the evening of the 5th of December).
On this day, the legend says that Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas) and his companion Black Peter (Dutch: Zwarte Piet) hand out sweets and presents to all children who behaved properly. The magical thing about Black Peter and Saint Nicholas is that they walk on the roofs and get in the houses alongside the chimney.
For the event “Pub Crawl: let’s get a taste of Ghent”, you are supposed to dress up as Black Peter. To make it more interesting there will be a contest: whoever dresses up the best, will get to taste the all new “Saint Nicholas Cocktail”.
On this day, the legend says that Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas) and his companion Black Peter (Dutch: Zwarte Piet) hand out sweets and presents to all children who behaved properly. The magical thing about Black Peter and Saint Nicholas is that they walk on the roofs and get in the houses alongside the chimney.
For the event “Pub Crawl: let’s get a taste of Ghent”, you are supposed to dress up as Black Peter. To make it more interesting there will be a contest: whoever dresses up the best, will get to taste the all new “Saint Nicholas Cocktail”.
What does Black Peter look like?
Picture by Hotfield
Black Peter wears black/dark brown make-up and has black curly hair.
Some people say he's black because of the soot from the chimney.
The clothing of Black Peter consists of a coat with a white collar, a hat with feather(s), short knickerbockers, black shoes with long socks, gloves and big golden earrings.
Some tips on how to dress up like Black Peter
- You can take a cork and make it black with a lighter. Then you can colour your face with it (don't forget the ears and the neck), so you have the black look of Black Peter.
This comes right off with a little water and soap, so you don't have worry about permanent consequences.
You can also use black polish to colour your face.
If you're going to use real make-up, then you better use water-based make-up. - Basic red lipstick helps to get your lips the colour a true Black Peter has. This can be bought at almost every grocery store, or you can just lend it from a friend
- For the clothing you can go to a carnival store or just use your imagination (a collar from your grandma, your (brother's) football socks...)