This Southwest Michigan City Becomes a Multicultural Wonderland for the Holidays

A centuries-old windmill spins proudly above Holland, Michigan. Thousands of tulips bloom each spring, and at Christmas, Sinterklaas parades through the streets. Need a wreath or a car? Stop by VanWieren Hardware or Van Dam Auto Sales. (For clogs, head to the DeKlomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory.) Dutch heritage runs deep in this Lake Michigan city, founded in 1847 by immigrants fleeing religious persecution in the Netherlands. In fact, well into the 20th century, most residents could still claim Dutch ancestry—but that's evolving.

Yadah Ramirez has borne witness to the transformation. Her mother is from Mexico, and her father is a third-generation American whose family put down roots in Michigan as migrant workers. Families like hers were few in her neighborhood in the 1990s, but by 2020, the area was 24 percent Hispanic. Many new arrivals came for stable work in the area's agricultural fields and food processing plants.

"Growing up, I saw more and more Hispanics and Latinos move in," says Ramirez, who is programs director of the nonprofit Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP). Her organization hosts events like LAUP's annual spring Fiesta! each May. "The community was changing, looking like us."

During the holidays, Ramirez and her family gather to make tamales, a tradition for many Mexican families. "It's a time to reflect on the year, while you're making the masa, you're shucking the corn, you're stirring, you're kneading the dough and making the fillings," Ramirez says. "You're talking about how the year went and bonding. It's a tradition of passing [the culture] down."

Of course, that's something Holland has perfected over the past century and a half—preserving customs across generations and sharing them with others. Christmas here, for example, includes a popular outdoor holiday market, Kerstmarkt, with European crafts, artist demos and Dutch treats. But now you can also participate in Las Posadas, a traditional Mexican Christmas worship festival hosted by a local church, or attend Kwanzaa celebrations that began in the 1990s and have become a community event. (The Black population has grown in Holland too, though not so dramatically, accounting for 4.5 percent of the city's 34,000 residents.)

"Holland has come a long way in saying to communities that have cultures other than Dutch that, 'We see you,'" Ramirez says. "And 'Let's celebrate that as a community together.'"

Celebrations Calendar

Learn how three communities celebrate the holidays in Holland.