Sinterklaas arrived in Antwerp by steamboat on Saturday afternoon and told children gathered in the city centre that there had once again been no naughty children this year.
The steamboat brought Sinterklaas and his friends to the quay, where they were welcomed by presenter Bart Peeters and Antwerp mayor Els van Doesburg. She wished him much enjoyment on the rooftops in the weeks ahead.
At around 14:00, the group arrived at the pontoon on Steenplein. There, Sinterklaas thanked the children for the many welcome drawings he had received.
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After a procession through the city, he addressed the crowd from the balcony of Antwerp City Hall, as is tradition. A large audience had gathered on the Grote Markt for the annual arrival.
“Hello, dear children, it is a special day,” Sinterklaas said. “Soon I will once again be walking across the rooftops with my friend Piet.”
He said children had been fairly well-behaved at school over the past year, while also reminding them that bullying is never acceptable.
Sinterklaas also said the past year had not been easy for children. He referred to the heatwave during the summer, which left many classrooms uncomfortably hot.
“Hopefully the people who can do something about that will now take action,” he said.
Finally, Sinterklaas looked in his book to check whether there had been any naughty children. After a few mistaken readings and slips of the tongue, he concluded that all children had in fact been well behaved.
“Children, I have news. I have good news. There are no naughty children this year,” he said.
