Dutch Leftists enraged by traditional blackface Christmas character

In Nederland, Father Christmas traditionally has black helpers

Protesters across the Netherlands have disrupted Christmas parades put on for young children, claiming the 'black-face' costumes of Santa's helpers are racist.

Children lined the streets to see parades of Saint Nicholas handing out gifts, and Santa's black-faced elves, known as 'Black Petes'.

But the day descended into chaos as the parades were mired by clashes between far-left protesters and far-right hooligans around the country.

Young children in towns and cities can watch the arrival of Saint Nicholas, along with his helpers, in celebrations held every November.

Protesters against Black Petes, known as Zwarte Piets in the Netherlands, have claimed their costumes are racist because the white actors involved 'black up'.

Those portraying Zwarte Piet put on blackface make-up and colourful attire, in addition to curly wigs and light red lipstick to depict African features. 

In the Dutch city of Rotterdam, disappointed revellers went home because of the noisy anti-blackface protesters.

In the city of Maas, the protesters left their designated demonstration boxes and witnesses spoke of 'total choas', De Telegraaf reports.

But some of the violence was also caused by football hooligans. They confronted a Kick Out Black Pete demonstration in the Dutch town of Eindhoven. They threw eggs and cans of beer at the demonstrators, and six people were arrested.

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