Children’s Museum to host Dia de los Tres Reyes

To celebrate Mexican culture, the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose will be hosting a Dia De Los Tres Reyes event this Saturday and Sunday.

In partnership with the Museums Latino Cultural Advisors and Kaiser Permanente, CDM will bring together many customs and traditions of the “Three Kings Day” for the 17th year in a row.

Both days, the events will begin at 10 a.m. and have many activities for children to participate in including ‘papel picado’ crafts, where children cut paper into designs to make decorated banners.  Some of the paper themes are birds, floral patterns, and skeletons.

The days will be filled with musical performances and dances, with appearances by Brenda Lopez Folklorico, Gabriela Sepulvera, Mariachia Alma de Mexico, and Maestro Victor Hugo Santos.

There will also be tastings of the traditional ‘Roscon de Reyes’ or Kings Bread for participants to sample. The bread is often sweet and round, decorated with figs, cherries, and candied fruits with some families hiding a trinket inside for someone to find.

Some families have a tradition where the one who finds the trinket must host the next get together with tamales, pozole, and atole for the guests. Another tradition is to take the trinket to the nearest church on Feb. 2 for Candlemas Day.

The holiday is centered on the Christian holiday Epiphany, where the three wise men paid a visit to the newly born Jesus.