Three Kings Day celebrations in Chicago include toy and bicycle drive, sold-out bakeries

Due to recent history, Jan. 6 probably isn’t regarded by most as a day of joy.

But across Chicago, Latin American families of all backgrounds celebrated the annual traditions that come with the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, on Friday.

Known as “Día de los Reyes” in Spanish, the religious holiday has cultural meaning for Latinos of all backgrounds.

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In Humboldt Park, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center hosted their annual toy drive, this time outside La Casita de Don Pedro, 2625 W. Division St.

Children got to choose from a variety of gifts, including new bicycles and books.

Three members of the cultural center dressed up as the three wise men so families could take pictures with them.

Ambar Colón/Sun-Times

Humboldt Park resident Matilde Nieto brought her three sons, Alexis, Omar and Isael, to pick up gifts at the event. Her family is Mexican, so they will celebrate with a rosca de reyes of their own.

“Let the tradition continue. May it never be lost. May the children continue believing that the three wise men exist today,” Nieto said.

Gaby Rodriguez, 9, helped wrap some of the presents with her mom, Glenda Guzman, who was the cultural center’s lead organizer for the event.

Rodriguez said her favorite part of Three Kings Day is waking up to presents from the three wise men — sort of like Santa Claus on Christmas Day.

According to Guzman, the cultural center has been doing this event for over 30 years.

“Last night, Gaby was in charge of putting the grass [symbolic of the wise men’s camels] under her bed so that in the morning all her gifts would be under her bed,” Guzman said. “That’s how we keep the tradition and the Puerto Rican culture alive.”

Ambar Colón/Sun-Times

The cultural center also observed the 28th anniversary of the two huge steel Puerto Rican flags that were erected on Division Street at California and Western avenues.

Jose Lopez, executive director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, describes the day they went up as “indescribable.”

“To see those two flags that are 59-feet high, 56-feet wide and go 20 feet into the ground, Paseo Boricua is a reclamation of our Puerto Ricanness, of our presence and persistence in the city of Chicago.”

Of course, the Latino population in this city is not a monolith.

Mexican Chicagoans might purchase a rosca de reyes from their local bakery — a wreath cake with three plastic babies baked inside. Whoever gets a slice with a “baby Jesus” in it has to make tamales for the next holiday: Candlemas, or “Día de la Candelaria,” on Feb. 2.

The line for roscas was out the door at Artemio’s Bakery, 1443 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park. An employee told the Sun-Times they usually sell hundreds each year and sell out every time.

Ambar Colón/Sun-Times

In West Humboldt Park, at Panaderia La Central, at 3911 W. North Ave., owner Rosa Acevedo said she expects to sell twice as many roscas as last year — around 500 total and the most sold in her 25 years of operation.

While she looks forward to the day every year, Acevedo said this year has been a bit difficult, as shortages in the supply chain have persisted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The bad thing is that a lot of things I’m not able to purchase anymore, like my boxes,” she said. “But, I look forward to this because a lot of new people that I’ve never seen before come in, and it’s all by word of mouth.”