Jan 05 2009
Els Reis Mags
Every year, on January 5th, the Three Wise Kings arrive in the port of Barcelona from the Netherlands on their ship, the Santa Eulalia. They then process through the city of Barcelona in a great cavalcade, with all their friends, throwing candy to the children — some fifteen tons of it.
There’s Melchior.
And Gaspar, accompanied by my favourite Bollywood soundtrack album.
And then with much fanfare…
…And one of Hannibal’s elephants, last but not least…
…Comes Balthazar!
He’s followed by a few camels.
(Okay, the part about the Netherlands was a joke.)
Happy Epiphany!
Happy Epiphany!!
Oh gosh, these are huge!!
)
& I thought my Dad & his mates dressing up as Three wise Men was exotic!
wow! look at those colors!
i love the fotos, thank you for sharing, lucy!
This must have been so much fun to see.. keep posting!!!
har di har har …. someone just may not receive a chocolate letter from the good and holy St. Nikolaas ever again…
Hmm. Someone notices that she *didn’t* receive any such chocolate letter this year in fact.
Now *that’s* an epiphany. The photos remind me of the ancient and very bizarre pageant I saw in Brussels this summer, involving a lot of flag-waving and jousting on stilts, all to celebrate some (to me) obscure event in medieval Belgian history. Same by-and-for-the-locals-who’ve-spent-all-year-working-on-it-just-like-grandpa-used-to look. I would happily do a European tour just going to oddball local stuff like that.
This is so cool! Does the parade have any relationship with the play of the Three Kings from Rodrigo’s day? Also, very interesting that they come from the Netherlands (if they do). Did they perhaps take ship from there because they were coming from Cologne?
Hee hee, the bit about the Netherlands was a joke against my sister, see above.
I’m noticing the three kings all over in late medieval art, but I think this version has nothing to do with Rodrigo’s play (though both may share a common source of interest).
Dr. B, I would love to do that oddball tour of Europe with you some day. I’m crushed right now because I thought St. Eulalia’s day was today when apparently it is Feb. 12. Apparntly it has a parade of gigantes…
I wondered (about the Netherlands) because you could always threaten to prevent Zwarte Piet from making it north from Spain to help Sinterklaas. Although maybe Dd wouldn’t find that a problem, not being raised on Piet (yes?).