Dia de los Reyes event shares culture with community

REXBURG — Over 70 individuals gathered Monday night to celebrate Dia de los Reyes, or Epiphany Day, and share how many Hispanic communities celebrate the day with gifts and dance.

Ballet Folklorico Heritage, a Rexburg-based nonprofit that started in September, hosted a Dia de los Reyes event to raise awareness of these traditions among the community. The organization also teaches community members traditional dances from Mexico and other places.

“That’s what we want to build here. There’s not really a central point for Latinos to gather, and we want this to be it,” co-founder Mariana Vitali said. “We want people to come from whatever background they are and come learn about these beautiful traditions and the uniqueness of each of them.”

Victor and Ophelia Soto with their daughter, Texa, making a crown for her during Dia de los Reyes. | Daniel V. Ramirez, EastIdahoNews.com

This was the inspiration to host an event not only to celebrate Dia de los Reyes but also to teach community members about this religious holiday.

Dia de los Reyes is a celebration of the Three Wise Men, also known as the Three Kings, who, according to the Bible, brought gifts to honor Jesus Christ at his birth.

Vitali said that for Hispanics, this holiday is as important as Christmas. Dia de los Reyes is more spiritual, as it centers on religion with a focus on family, according to Vitali.

Vitali said that, traditionally in Mexico, part of the holiday is that children write cards with their wishes or hopes for the coming year, tie them to balloons, and send them off.

Vitali and the other co-founder, Claudia Galicia, both grew up in Mexico and recall taking part in this celebration at school. Vitali said the schools gather all together in the park to do this. Gifts are also given to children.

The event on Monday included an area where children could write their wishes and were given balloons to take home, a place to make crowns, a dance demonstration and pieces of the Rosca de Reyes.

Kings’ Bread

The Rosca de Reyes, or Kings’ Bread, is a traditional bread eaten during the holiday and shaped like a crown.

Ignacio Angeles, owner of Trigo Bakery, who’s been making the rosca for the past 40 years, said the bread has changed over time.

The roscas are often bejeweled with jellied fruits and paste to separate them into sections.

Depending on the day the holiday falls, Angeles said he will, on average, sell around 300 roscas.

Hidden inside the bread is a figurine of the baby Jesus.

“But times change, and now people have requested an extra figurine or sometimes two,” Ignacio said jokingly.

Depending on the family, whoever gets the figurine has a different meaning behind it.

Ignacio said that whoever gets it often has to make something for Feb. 2 to celebrate Candlemas.

To learn more about Ballet Folklorico Heritage, visit its website at balletfolkloricoheritage.org.