As in The Netherlands, children in Belgium believe that ‘Sinterklaas/St. Niklaas’ (Flemish) or ‘Saint Nicholas’ (Walloon) brings them presents on December 5th and 6th, St. Nicholas’ Eve and St. Nicholas’ Day.
In Belgium there are three official languages, Dutch (a Belgium version of Dutch is known as Flemish, this is mainly spoken in the northern area of Belgium called Flanders), French (mainly spoken in the southern Walloon Region) and German (spoken by about 1% of Belgiums in the east of the country).
In Belgium Dutch/Flemish Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Vrolijk Kerstfeest’, French it’s ‘Joyeux Noël’, in German it’s ‘Frohe Weihnachten’ and in the Walloon language (spoken by some people in the Walloon Region) it’s ‘djoyeus Noyé’. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.
On Christmas Eve (‘Kerstavond’ in Flemish and ‘le réveillion de Noël’ in Walloon), a special meal is eaten by most families.
It starts with a drink (apéritif) and ‘nibbles’, followed by a starter course such as sea-food, and then stuffed turkey.
The dessert is ‘Kerststronk’ (Flemish) or ‘la bûche de Noël’ (Walloon) a chocolate Christmas Log made of sponge roll layered with cream. The outside is covered with chocolate butter cream and made to resemble a bark-covered log.
In the weeks before Christmas, people also like to go to Christmas Markets.
People go to buy Christmas presents, decorations and food.
Going ice skating with friends is also something which is very common.
At Christmas parties at schools, it’s common to buy a small gift which can be for anyone.
A game is played to give out the presents. A very popular one is putting on some music and passing the parcel around everyone sitting in a circle.
When the music stops, the one who holds the parcel, gets to keep the present. That’s why the present should be something that anyone would like!
Most people will have a Christmas Tree (real or fake!) decorated with lights, baubles, garlands and a star on the top.
Next to the tree, many people will have a nativity scene.
Some people even have a life-size one in their gardens! In most villages, there are big ‘real’ scenes next to the church with real animals (donkey, sheep, ox) and non-stop choir music playing. Some people also decorate the outside of their house with lights, or reindeer, or a Santa climbing up the roof (that’s very popular).
On Christmas Eve, people normally celebrate with their close family and keep it small and cosy.
The main meal is eaten on Christmas Eve. You might start the evening with small things like crisps, mini-pizzas, etc., or have a starter like soup. For the main course popular dishes include game or seafood, but turkey or chicken are also popular. But whatever you have, there’s always some potato croquettes! Ice-cream cake is a very popular dessert.
Small family Christmas presents are also given at Christmas too, where they are put under the tree. They are opened on Christmas Eve. People also like to listen to Christmas music on the radio. Some people also go a Midnight Mass service
The traditional Christmas breakfast is the same as the normal Sunday breakfast eaten throughout the year. This is freshly baked crusty rolls (bakeries do their best trade on Sundays in the Flanders region) with butter & cold meats and/or jam, followed by pastries (like Danish pastries) called ‘koffiekoek(en)’ (meaning coffee cake(s) as they are normal eaten with a cup of coffee!).
On Christmas day itself people visit friends or distant relatives.
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