January 6th is the Epiphany. It’s the day the baptism of Christ is celebrated.
January 6th is also the Day of the Three Magi Kings or Wise Men. Their names are Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. The Epiphany is celebrated in some countries as the day the three wise men visited the infant baby Jesus. This is especially important in Spain and other Hispanic cultures around the world, where the day is called Fiesta de Los Tres Reyes Mages.
The Day of the Three Magi is celebrated like Christmas in Spain. It’s the day the children are given presents. On the night of the 5th, instead of stockings, kids leave their shoes out, stuffed with straw. It’s not Santa who comes in the middle of the night leaving the children presents. Instead, it’s the three magi who come bringing gifts for the kids, just like they gave the baby Jesus presents in honor of his birth. The straw in the children’s shoes is for the Wise Men’s camels to eat.
To celebrate the Epiphany in Spain there are also often parades featuring the three magi…
The special food that is eaten on the Epiphany is called Roscón de Reyes, meaning “twisted roll of kings”. It’s a loaf in the shape of a crown with fruit and nuts on top and filled with chocolate or whipped cream. There’s supposed to be a gold coin inside it. It’s said that the person who finds the coin will have good luck throughout the upcoming year.
Hear the song called Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar from Argentina.
Happy Epiphany!
Lisa
This article was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2006 at 10:26 pm and is filed under Argentinean Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Desserts, Epiphany, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Recipe Links, Recipes of the World, Roscón de Reyes - Twisted Roll of Kings, Spain, Spanish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
11 Responses to “On January 6th, The Three Wise Men Leave Gifts for Children in Spain”
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December 17th, 2008 at 9:25 am
hey i dont understand how january 6th is so imporntant in spain!!!!:)
December 17th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
It’s when the three wise men gave the gifts to Jesus.
January 5th, 2010 at 5:17 am
Hey,
Greetings from Spain!!!!
Let me explain…today is a really important day for children and adults alike…the 3 wise men are coming so everybody is thrilled waiting for their gifts…It doesn´t matter if you are a catholic or not..everybody follows this traditition that is complimented with a traditional parade in every single city/village of spain in which the three wise men throw candies to the kids riding their camels, horses or in fancy chariots!!!
hope you find it useful!!!!
January 6th, 2010 at 6:06 am
very very helpful! i’m in Nerja this week on holiday and wondered why it was so quiet this morning. thanks!
March 20th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I’ve just come back from a holiday in Nerja. The weather was not great but of all the areas in Andalucia, this was the best. Great food and wine and charming people. Can’t wait to return.
May 9th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
its my birthday on 6th of january and i just recently found out about the three wise men story in spain. im sure this doesnt matter, but im a muslim, does it matter that i celebrate the festival as well?
June 25th, 2012 at 4:42 am
They Leave GIfts
November 30th, 2012 at 5:52 am
Hi we are in spain on the 6th of january and we want to know where the best place is to go for the three wise men celebrations we will be staying in Benalmadena will there be celebrations there or should we travell to Malaga.
January 5th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Jesus was born on the 25th but the 3 Kings didn’t arrive to the manger until January 6th.
January 10th, 2015 at 6:27 pm
It was the 3 wise men who followed the star, paid homage to Jesus re whom they had read in scripture…Messiah …after finding Him , they ignored King Herod as God warned them in a dream ( other wise Herod would have killed Jesus) and it was the 2 wise men who told the world re the birth of Jesus
December 15th, 2015 at 8:13 pm
Can I plz have some more info I am doing a project on this and I need more info. Thz