Discovering the magic of Three Kings Day, from Puerto Rico to the US
*What a fun read! It’s not just Puerto Rico, though. It’s all of Latin America and in many, many place in the U.S. Even WalMart is in on the celebration (for profit, of course, but it says a lot). VL
By Ashley Rodriguez, Quartz (5 minute read) 
My family has held onto many of its holiday traditions since my grandparents migrated to New York from Puerto Rico in the 1950s. You won’t find ham or mashed potatoes in our holiday spreads. Pernil, or roasted pork shoulder, and pasteles, a banana- and root-vegetable pastry that’s stuffed with meat, are at the center of our Christmas feasts.
There is one major difference between how my family celebrates Christmas now, and how my grandparents celebrated it as children back on the island, however. Our winter holidays now both culminate and conclude with Christmas Day. But in Puerto Rico, Christmas is merely the midpoint of the holiday season. It extends through Jan. 6—the 12th day of Christmas—which is known as El Día de Los Reyes or Three Kings Day.
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Three Kings Day commemorates the biblical journey of the three kings—Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior—who followed a star that appeared in the sky on Christmas Day all the way to Bethlehem, where they discovered and offered gifts to baby Jesus.
The holiday is nearly as significant as Christmas in many Spanish-speaking regions like Puerto Rico, Spain, and Latin America, and is also celebrated in other predominately Christian nations like Russia.
[Photo by Phil Roeder/Flickr]
