Sinterklaas – Netherlands

The next Sinterklaas is on Saturday, December 5, 2026 – in 81 days.

In the Netherlands it's an observance, which means plenty of people mark it but nobody gets the day off work or school.

When is it? Sinterklaas falls on the same date every year, December 5. The date itself never changes, but the day of the week does, and that decides whether you get a long weekend out of it. Next time round is Saturday, December 5, 2026, 81 days from now.

Which weekday does it land on? Across the eleven years in the table, Sinterklaas lands twice on a Friday, twice on a Wednesday, twice on a Tuesday and twice on a Sunday. In three of those it sits next to a weekend, turning it into a three-day break. Those are the years to book early. You can open the printable calendar for any year in the table and see the date in context.

What to expect on the day. Nothing closes. Shops, offices, schools and transport all run as normal, because this is a day people mark rather than a day they get off. That said, restaurants, florists and retailers often build around it, so booking ahead is sensible if you're planning to go out. In 2026 it falls in December, which also holds Christmas Eve on the 24th, Christmas Day (Eerste Kerstdag) on the 25th, Boxing Day (Tweede Kerstdag) on the 26th and New Year's Eve on the 31st. Worth seeing them together before you commit to dates.

Putting it in your own calendar. You don't need to. Every calendar on this site already shows Sinterklaas for whichever country you've selected. What's worth adding is everything around it: the travel, the cover arrangements, who's visiting when. Open the month, click the days and type. Keep a free account and the notes stay with you between devices, and you can send someone a read-only link so you're both working from the same dates.

Every date here is worked out from the official rule rather than copied off a list, so the later years are as reliable as this one. If a date looks wrong for your region, please say so. Regional holiday rules do change, and we'd rather fix the rule than leave it.

Sinterklaas dates 2026–2036