Kings Melchior, Gaspar and Baltazar graced the streets of Hartford Monday morning in celebration of Three Kings Day. The three wise men rode camels through the city to Pope Park, where families lined up out the doors of the Arroyo Center to accept their gifts for Three Kings Day.
Celebrated predominantly by Latino families, the Christian holiday commemorates the Epiphany on Jan. 6 at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, when three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus.
Cassandra Santana, 61, has been going to the Three Kings Day celebration in Hartford since it first started over 25 years ago. As a Puerto Rican Christian, Santana said it’s a day to rejoice.
“It’s a point of pride for us that this [event] happens and that this tradition doesn’t die,” Santana said in Spanish.
Puerto Rican tradition is especially important for 17-year-old Liana Rivera, Miss Puerto Rico of Greater Hartford 2024. She walked in the parade in her Miss Puerto Rico sash and crown, which she said represents her culture.
“We keep up the culture because it can feel like it’s fading away now that we’re not on the island, but I think that this celebration right now, this parade, helps prove that our culture is very much still alive,” she said.
Multiple cultures embrace the day
Three Kings Day is largely celebrated in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Spain, but events like the one in Hartford have encouraged families from Latin countries that don’t typically celebrate the holiday to adapt it into their lives in Connecticut.
Melissa Ayala is a 30-year-old Peruvian and resident of Hartford. After living in the city for some years, she said her family has been learning more about the holiday and incorporating it into their celebrations.
“I find it very entertaining for the kids more than anything,” she said in Spanish. “For them, it’s new and different to see animals they don’t normally see, like the camels, and to see all the activities that they do here.”
For 33-year-old Kiaraliz Laracuente, the event is a gift for the community.
“It’s something especially beautiful for the parents who don’t have the means to get gifts for their kids or for those parents that could afford to get Christmas presents but didn’t have enough for Three Kings Day,” Laracuente said in Spanish.
More than 500 donated toys were available for the children to choose from, according to Nilda Morales, the director of El Centro Family Center and the Hispanic Senior Center, which helped organize the event. However, the toys aren’t what’s most important in her eyes.
“The meaning of this [holiday] is not the gift,” Morales said. “It’s teaching the children about the Nativity and teaching them what it's about: The Three Kings and the coming to receive and see the baby Jesus. And I think that's what’s most important for us. It’s not only the gift; it’s the meaning behind that.”
Effort to mark a school holiday
The Three Kings Day celebration is happening on the heels of an announcement in the state legislature regarding a new bill that seeks to have schools across Connecticut recognize the holiday.
State Rep. Christopher Rosario (D-Bridgeport) recently introduced the bill in an effort to ensure that Latino kids can take part in Three Kings Day traditions without missing important classroom time.
Many schools with large Latino populations in Bridgeport, Stanford and Hartford, already observe the holiday, but many in surrounding towns don’t.
“We want to make sure that the Department of Education will allow the option to other cities and towns, whether it's a rural or suburban community,” Rosario said. “Those families that do observe, allow them to celebrate without getting charged an absence.”
Morales supports the bill. It’s important for children to celebrate the traditional holidays their families observe as it’s done with any other holiday without having to worry about missing school, she said.
“It’s a holiday. It’s a tradition for us, and they need to respect that too for our children,” Morales said.
Longtime Hartford resident and Three Kings Day parade-goer Santana calls celebrating the holiday a blessing.
“It’s the most beautiful thing, and what’s beautiful must be presented. It must be shown,” Santana said in Spanish.
