Belgium holidays

There are 12 official Belgium holidays. Below is the list of Public Holidays from January 2008 to December 2009. To avoid surprises it is essential to know when those holidays take place since some shops, museums and attractions will be closed.

2008
1 Jan New Year's Day.
24 Mar Easter Monday.
1 May Labour Day, Ascension Day.
12 May Whit Monday.
11 Jul* Flemish Community Holiday.
21 Jul Independence Day.
15 Aug Assumption.
27 Sep* French Community Holiday.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
11 Nov Armistice Day.
15 Nov German Community Holiday.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

Public Holidays 2009

An important, although not an official, public holiday takes place on December 6th. Sort of an early Christmas, Sinterklaasdag in Dutch or la Saint-Nicolas in French (English: Saint Nicholas) is especially loved by children in Belgium and the Netherlands. On December 5th before going to bed, kids put their shoes with some water or wine and a carrot by the fire place. If the children were well behaved during the year they can expect gifts from St. Nicholas - who comes at night and travels down their chimney.

St. Nicolas gets the wine or water and his horse the carrot :-)

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