Rhinebeck, New York
"...just a smile away from Whoville with a hint of It's a Wonderful Life."
—Huffington Post

Category: Festival Day

A Little History

Arrival in Kingston

The Opening Ceremony

Children’s Starlight Parade

The Hudson Valley celebrates Sinterklaas with a parade. The Children’s Starlight Parade, is on the first Saturday in December at the end of Sinterklaas Festival Day in Rhinebeck.

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Stars

The STARS are a unique addition we’ve made to the Sinterklaas celebrations. These STARS make families, friends, and relations the active myth makers of our community and its future!

From the moment you take possession of your star, you assume a key role in a community ritual.

On the first Saturday of December, carry your stars in the Children’s Starlight Parade in Rhinebeck. Hundreds of your neighbors, friends, and family join in an illuminated pageant through the heart of town.

A gathering constellation lights the path for the many children who, bedecked with their crowns and branches, are the honored Kings and Queens of the Day. At the end of the procession, everyone gathers for the final ritual of the pageant. The Master of Ceremonies calls upon all those present to honor our children, our hope for the future, our joy of today.

He asks you to bow down on one knee to the children and hold your STAR at the children’s waist level, elevating the children on a sea of stars above everyone in the community. Then you are asked to stand again and raise your star above your heads—thus placing you, the children and the entire community in its proper place in the firmament—all of us as one and at peace under the stars. And you can bring your star back next year, adding to an ever-expanding universe of stars, helping to nurture a Rhinebeck tradition.