Three Kings Parade

There were kings abound at Brooklyn’s 13th Annual Three Kings Parade on Sunday, but one trio was clearly the crowd favorite: Sally, Ted, and Annie, three camels from the Sanctuary for Animals in Orange County, New York. The camels have been a staple at the parade over the years, as are the llamas, sheep, donkeys, and costume-clad marchers. But the real stars were the dozens of schools, community groups, and local businesses that marched in the parade, which kicked off at Graham and Meeker Street and made its way to Flushing.

“This is my second year; I’m very excited,” said Parade Director Alejandro Zayas. “The Brooklyn Three Kings Parade Committee has some special guests—it’s exciting because a lot of people are coming down and calling in because they want to be part of the parade.”

Three Kings Day, also known as The Epiphany or Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos, is a Christian celebration that falls on January 6, twelve days after Christmas, and commemorates the Biblical story of the Three Kings, Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar, who follow the star of Bethlehem to present the Baby Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In Latin America, the tradition is for children to leave their shoes out on the eve of January 6, in hopes that the next morning they will be filled with gifts from the Three Kings.

The parade, which was organized by about thirty committee members, brought out over 3,000 Brooklynites, and featured singers, community members, local businesses, floats, festive music, colorfully costumed dancers, and dozens of school children from schools including P.S. 86, P.S. 157, P.S. 106, P.S. 147, P.S. 19, P.S. 319, P.S. 120, and M.S. 50. Kicking off the parade were the blue and gold-clad drum line, guitarists, trumpeters, and flautists from P.S. 275 School of the Performing Arts.

For Brooklyn community members both young and old, and appreciative Brooklyn passersby, Sunday was a happy, energetic, festive celebration filled with music, dancing, camels, and kings.