This weekend it's Sint Maarten. I live in The Netherlands and this children's fest isn't celebrated in the whole country, but only in some regions. Sint Maarten was the son of a rich man who shared half of his coat with a poor, coat- and shoeless man and therefore was named a saint.
The celebration that came out of this anecdote, are groups of children that trek along the houses in the neighborhood after dark with lights and lampions. They hope people want to share sweets and candies by singing Sintremaarten songs (short songs, of course, because they want to get as much sweets as possible, so the longer the song, the shorter the time left to go to other houses; for people who don't want to share sweets and candies are special songs, in which people are named greedy). It's a bit like Halloween, but with songs and without the scary things.
The weeks before November 11, name day of Sint Maarten and therefore the day of celebration, children traditionally start to m…
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