Who else is looking forward to Three Kings Day / Epiphany?

[TwnklTwnklLittleStarfighter]

Who else is planning Three Kings’ Day, and what do you do?

For us, the night before, the children put their shoes under the tree and write a note to their favourite King. In the morning, they have a small present in their shoe. (Sometimes 3 presents, I’m not very consistent!).

We take the tree down together, and have a nice meal in the evening.

I’d love to hear what other people are doing!

Where is this tradition from? I’ve not heard of it before.

I usually plant a stuffed toy in my best porcelain vase and hum the first few bars of Blondies “Heart of Glass”.

Just kidding never heard of it

My DM used to live in Spain & it's a big tradition there, & also really lovely.

My family and I were in Tenerife for this one year. It was a really big thing there and absolutely lovely. I doubt very much there will be the street party this year though. It was amazing, the three kings arrived on real camels next to our outdoor restaurant and we were wondering what the heck was going on - luckily the restaurant owner spoke some English to explain 🙂

eh?

Is this a new Elf Shelf/Xmas Eve box unnecessary thing? Or a devout ancient tradition religious thing?

I am ignorant of this festival.

Is that you (h) ilaria? Just kidding.. it sounds interesting.

Roscon de Reyes!

Spent 6 months in Spain which happened to be over Xmas, while Christmas Day was nothing special the whole village and cities round about became alive during 3 Kings was just wonderful, great memories.

@BendyLikeBeckham

eh?

Is this a new Elf Shelf/Xmas Eve box unnecessary thing? Or a devout ancient tradition religious thing?

I am ignorant of this festival.

It's Epiphany.... It's been around a fair while.

Most people who celebrate secular Christmas don't do anything,but epiphany is a big thing, it s the day of revelation as Christ as a physical entity essentially. Marking the day the "3 kings" met him. You know,when they have their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It's on the 6th

Yes Epiphamy has been around for a couple of thousand years, not a new thing

It was a friend of the family who introduced us to the shoes under the tree part when I was a kid, but we have several friends that take the tree down, go to church, have a family meal.

I’m guessing from reactions that maybe it’s a regional thing and not as widespread as I thought. Still interested in hearing from anyone else who will be celebrating!

It's certainly not a new thing, but I don't think people in the UK generally celebrate it, unless they are originally from other countries where it's the norm.

I always include it in my Christmassy lessons, because I'm a languages teacher and it's an important part of the festive season in France and Spain. The younger (and sometimes the older) children I teach are often astonished to learn that not everybody who celebrates Christmas does so in the same way they do!

Yes I know what Epiphany is and the date, but had no knowledge of anyone celebrating it and doing stuff in the UK (unless uber religious). Like Whitsun and All Saints Day etc.

What is the shoe tradition?

We're in France and will normally celebrate with friends with a 'galette des rois'. The galette has a 'fève' (little porcelain figure) hidden inside it. The youngest person sits under the table and as each slice is cut says who it's for. The person who has the fève is crowned the king (or queen) and wears a crown for the rest of the get together. We generally take down all Christmas decorations too.

In my head I read this in the voices of Ned Flander’s children.

In Ireland, the Epiphany is also known as Little Christmas but also Nollaig na mBan or Women's Christmas. Traditionally this is a day for the women to relax, visit each other after the work of Christmas and men are to do the housework that day. It is very common in some parts of Ireland but not in others - however in my experience a lot of women have started to celebrate it again - it's a bit like Mother's Day but without the gifts and usually celebrated with other women rather than immediate family. In my case, in non-COVID times, I would meet up with my closest friends for a meal. It's a lovely tradition.

@CoisFarraige In all seriousness, that sounds like a wonderful tradition.

We have Twelfth Night fondue with the DC and I finish off the mulled wine. Our tree won't come down till then either.

I can't remember why we started it but it's nice to have something else to look forward to!

@CoisFarraige it's a great tradition isn't it. It doubles as my birthday so I also get presents.

I'm not 'uber religious' but I am a practising Catholic and I think you'll find (especially in non Covid times) that many Catholics attend church on The feast of the Ephinany. It is an important day in the church calender. However, I wasn't aware of the tradition of gifts etc but sounds a nice thing to do.

The only people I know celebrating epiphany are French and Spanish. DH is French, but even he doesn't really bother (been in UK over 40 years, to be fair).

Women's Christmas sounds wonderful, and definitely something I could get on board with (once we don't have covid restrictions).

Not French, Spanish or 'uber religious' but we also mark Epiphany. I'm going to throw a new one into the thread mix now and mention Candlemas! Our tree comes down then and we light candles in the windows.

CoisFarraige, that tradition has been mentioned on here before and sounds really lovely - and well worth celebrating.

IT's Twelfth Night. It used to be bigger and rowdier than Christmas. With better cake.

It's a biggish deal in LatAm on Candlemas in Mexico people eat tamales (which are bought by whoever got the plastic baby Jesus in the "Rosca").