“Three Kings” parade Madrid

Spain celebrated the arrival of the Three Kings yesterday, on January 6.  Well actually they celebrate their very imminent arrival the night before, on January 5, in spectacular parades and street festivals across the country.

Next year, if you’re trying to think of somewhere to spend the colder months, think about making a visit to Madrid over the Christmas and New Year season.  You’ll see Madrid at its best (winter days are characterised by bright, crisp blue skies) and the kids can be won over by the fantastic Christmas shows and displays and the distribution from floats of literally tones of sweets in the city’s major Three Kings parade.  Write it down because you probably won’t read about it.  Madrid is appalling at promoting its traditional events.  The city’s own special Christmas guide this year makes a one line mention of the Three King’s Parade — hardly an indication of the scale or importance of the event which thousands of spectators attend and for which the entire centre of the city is blocked off.

The Three Kings Parade is impressive and it’s getting better every year.  This year it was nothing short of breathtaking.  While, just as with Santa Claus, the lead characters are inevitably men of dubious background dressed up in inauthentic period costume, the event as whole is a winning blend of children’s fantasy and artistic display.  This year’s parade featured a Cirque de Soleil style artist in constant, graceful motion as she hung down from enormous white floating balloons.  As she proceeded all the way up Paseo de Castellana, she was followed by a procession of tall, red giraffes — stilt walkers in stunningly creative, bright red, backlit costume.

Paseo de Castellana, Gran Via and Alcala, leading to Plaza Cibeles are decorated with Christmas lights from the beginning of December, and the buildings in all the main plazas in the centre are lit up in a festive tribute to their inherent architectural charm.

Here are some shots thanks to Jexweber on Flickr.  And there is a very nice collection, including the Jexweber shots, at fotonazos.es

Five story high giraffes led by a graceful trapeze artist suspended from giant white balloons proceed down Paseo de Castellana

Giant Balloons on Paseo de Castellana Madrid for the annual Three Kings Parade on Jan 5

Hope to see you there next year!

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