Actually, this is a recycled posting from last year. Here you go.

Here's a bit about Saint Nicholas traditons, the way I know them:

In the period before the festivity, children are encouraged to leave their shoe in front of the open fire (nowadays, central heating works, too. Those Black Peters are smart!) with something for Sinterklaas' horse: a carrot or some hay.
It's best if they sing a song or two, so Zwarte Piet can hear them through the chimney, and tell Sinterklaas that these are good kids who have sung him a nice song. In the morning, there will be a tiny gift or a piece of candy in the shoe.


Bigger gifts are given on the evening of the 5th or 6th of December. The gifts are all supposed to come from Saint Nicholas and are often packed in a big cloth bag.
They are left on the doorstep by a friendly neigbour who rings the bell or knocks on a window, pretending to be Black Peter, and then hurries off before the kids get to see him. Sometimes, he'll throw some candy into the room first, making sure all the children get to see is a gloved hand!
If there are no neighbours, all of this happens while father or mother just had to pop out for a small errand, and when (s)he comes back Black Peter has just left again so they have miraculously missed each other!

The mysterious bag is respectfully brought inside, and usually people will take turns unwrapping a present. There are gifts for the grown-ups, too. Most of the gifts will be accompanied by a poem or rhyme, signed by either Sinterklaas or Black Peter; the poems often make fun of the receipient of the gift, but in a friendly way. They are all read out loud.
Some of the gifts are packed in such a way that they resemble an animal, an object or even a person; your gift may be wrapped in cotton wool and covered in something sticky, like syrup; or the package may be very hard to open, or contain nothing but a note telling you to go and look in the fridge where your present will be hidden. These 'trick packages' are called Surprises, pronounced Surpreezes, and making them is one of the most fun traditions surrounding Sinterklaas.

As soon as children don't believe in Sinterklaas anymore, they become a Hulpsinterklaas, or Sint Nick's Helper: they make or buy presents for the other members of the family. So during november and early december, it's not uncommon that a parent will not be allowed into a kid's room, because 'surprises' are being made inside, and no one should see them before the big event.
It's often a bit sad to find out that Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet aren't real, but on the other hand, being a Hulpsinterklaas makes you feel really grown-up!

If the group of participants is too large to make a gift for each, names will be drawn, so each person has to get a gift for just one of the others. Sometimes, groups of grownups celebrate Sinterklaas this way with no children present at all. Usually, there's a set (and low) budget: Sinterklaas isn't about getting expensive stuff, it's about creativity, silly rhymes and fun.

To me, celebrating Saint Nicholas Day is one of the nicest traditions we have here, and it's a shame that many people drop it in favour of putting presents under the Christmas tree.

So how did all y'all do when I asked you to tell me what you know about these traditions?

Surprisingly well! If I put all you answers together I get a fairly complete image of Dutch Saint Nicholas traditions.

elhamisabel told me about the German traditions, which are similar; Knecht Ruprecht is a bit different from Zwarte Piet, but his role is much the same. They are both helpers who help carry the gifts, but also carry out punishment. Zwarte Piet is more playful and jokes around with the children, to compensate for the Saint's stern image.
Nowadays, Zwarte Piet is generally not seen as stupid and primitive anymore; instead, he is funny and smart and often helps Saint Nick, who is wise but very old and forgetful, find his glasses or the Big Book with all the children's wish lists in it.

miketroll , having lived in Amsterdam, has probably met Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet face to face but suspects they may not have been the real one. Is anyone ever sure? Not that it matters. It's all part of the mystery.

Most of you correctly said that the feast is celebrated in the beginning of December. texaswren remembered the shoes, which are indeed important; only they're left at the fireplace, not outside the door.

As some of you mentioned, Saint Nicholas was indeed a historical figure and a bishop; he's said to have lived in the fourth century. There are many stories of his good deeds; he's said to have saved children from being eaten (!), seamen from drowning by calming the waves during a storm, and young maidens from prostitution by giving them money for a dowry. That last bit may be why atenea_nike called him the patron saint of prostitutes.

yokospungeon pictured the good saint on a sleigh drawn by horses; that's halfway correct. He rides a white horse. Almost everything else she told us is spot on! She knew about the shoes, and about rescueing children, and about the nature of Zwarte Piet.

lytteltonwitch , too, knew about the shoes and that he was a real person who did good things and helped the poor; only the historical setting was a bit off (about 10 centuries). Oh well.

And skyring made me laugh. You all did really well. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
I think you've all deserved the first letter of your name in chocolate!