Only random if you're not Dutch.
I shared a hotel room with my missus early on in our relationship, and I did so in Amsterdam.
One morning she decided to do her hair and makeup whilst I stayed in bed watching TV. I ended up watching a strange Dutch TV program about some sort of priest figure and a bunch of black and white minstrels meeting some old woman and gaining some sort of approval. As a resident of the PC UK I was a little bemused by this broadcast, and mentioned it to the missus when she emerged from the bathroom.
We went out to look for lunch soon after, but found it a little tricky to get around as the streets were cordoned off and crowds were gathering.
We were standing beside one of the barriers and debating what to do when we heard a cheer from further down the cordoned-off road. Round the corner came a collection of blackened-faced people on roller skates, motorbike, bike, roller blades and various other forms of transport.
A little confused by this we made our way to a department store with a display in the window depicting a christmas scene. As we tried to read an information card half a dozen black-faced people abseiled down a nearby building and others emerged from the crowd to greet them.
Apparently we were witnessing Sinteklaas and his "companion" Zwarte Piet giving out goodies to the good kids and preparing to take the bad ones to Spain in a sack.
I've been to Spain and it's a nice enough country, but I'd rather not go there in a sack...
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 26 Apr 2011, 18:35, 3 replies)

take it you were ther on or around 5 december.
That's when st Nicholas comes and leaves a present in your shoe. The black dudes, as you said, are zwarte piet. Although they supposedly are there to kidnap arsehole children, their main job is to throw (sometimes with surprising force) sweets and pepernoten (a type of small delicious gingerbread hemisphere) at greedy kids.

My first year celebrating 5 December the old boy left a copy of GNR's spaghetti incident in my shoe.

Good times man, good times.
(OTT, Tue 26 Apr 2011, 22:42, closed)

That was the former Bishop of Turkey
He lives in Spain now with between 6 and 8 black slaves. On 5th of Jan he turns himself and two of his slaves into kings and repeats the same thing back home. Last time I saw him he was being driven round catalonia on top of a mocked up London Bus still throwing sweets at kids. The bus had russian number plates so god only knows what route he had taken.

Actually it's far less random than an old fat man who lives at the north pole and flying through the sky on a sleigh.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 27 Apr 2011, 11:04, closed)

The Germans do it too.
Lebkuchen in your shoes whilst you're asleep and bad children are taken away.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Wed 27 Apr 2011, 12:57, closed)