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Kids Celebrate Three Kings Day in El Barrio Parade

By DNAinfo Staff on January 6, 2010 5:37pm  | Updated on January 6, 2010 7:23pm

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

EAST HARLEM — A camel resting beneath the subway bridge at 103rd Street in East Harlem heralded the end of the Christmas Season Wednesday as El Museo Del Barrio celebrated Three Kings Day with its 33rd annual parade.

Hundreds of students from area schools participated in the procession, which included the first ever Bolivian float featuring national folk music.

The music booming from the floats kept spectators dancing, but it was the parading camels that captured Adriana Candia's attention. The 6-year-old stamped her feet as she waited to march and wait her turn to ask the Three Kings for her last Christmas wish — a Nintendo DS.

Adriana Candia, 6, of East Harlem joined her classmates from P.S. 83 to march in the Three Kings Day parade.
Adriana Candia, 6, of East Harlem joined her classmates from P.S. 83 to march in the Three Kings Day parade.
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DNAinfo/Gabriela Resto-Montero

In Latin American countries, Three Kings Day marks the Feast of the Epiphany, or the night when believers say three kings followed the North star to the Bethlehem manger where baby Jesus was born. 

The holiday always falls on Jan. 6 and marks the end of the Christmas season. For the kids who celebrate the day it means one last chance to receive the presents Santa Claus may have left behind.

Instead of leaving out milk and cookies, the Kings get water and hay from children for their weary camels. Hay is hard to come by in Manhattan so Gerardo Diaz and his wife Nancy Garcia set up a nativitiy to welcome the Kings.

"The Christmas tree stays up until Jan. 8," Garcia said.

Diaz and Garcia brought their twin daughters Amaya and Dolly Diaz, 7, to watch the parade.

The girls get visits from Santa and the Kings every year.

"We're teaching them to learn both of the traditions," Diaz said.

Amaya and Dolly had just one wish for the Kings, a microphone to sing their favorite Daddy Yankee songs.

At the end of the parade back at El Museo Del Barrio, tables were set up with DVDs, books, dolls and stuffed animals for the kids who participated.

Graciela Valderrama, Esperanza Camacho and Sonia Candia made their Three Kings Day Parade debut as part of the Bolivian float.
Graciela Valderrama, Esperanza Camacho and Sonia Candia made their Three Kings Day Parade debut as part of the Bolivian float.
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DNAinfo/Gabriela Resto-Montero

The Toy Bank and other organizations donated the gifts, said Migdalia LaPorte, a volunteer at the museum.

"There's one present for every one," LaPorte said. "The parents in the community know about it and they come to celebrate."