Three Kings Day Parade and Celebrations for NYC Kids 2012

Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa may be over, but Three Kings Day is coming up this Friday, January 6. Also know as Epiphany, Three Kings Day is the last official day of the Christmas season, or the "12th day of Christmas" as the song goes.

The holiday, which is especially popular in the Hispanic community, commemorates the Three Wise Men coming to visit baby Jesus. The main event in New York City is East Harlem's 35th annual Three Kings Day Parade, which is sponsored by El Museo del Barrio. We've got the scoop on this procession and five other ways to celebrate Three Kings Day with kids in NYC.

Three Kings Day Parade – East Harlem
Friday, January 6 at 10:30am
Begins at 106th Street and Madison Avenue and ends at 115th Street and Park Avenue
FREE
This colorful procession is organized by El Museo del Barrio and features costumed school kids, live camels and sheep, floats, twirling dancers and a trio of 12-foot-tall Magi puppets, all accompanied by parrandas, Afro-Venezuelan-influenced drum music. The Three Kings themselves (or at least the local celebrities playing them), will lead this merry band. It's a small community affair, but worth seeing for the live animals and exuberant elementary schoolers who participate.

Three Kings Day Celebration – Lower East Side
Teatro SEA, 107 Suffolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets
Friday, January 6 3-5pm
FREE
NYC's only Latino children's theater company throws its annual Día de los Tres Reyes Magos fete with crafts and live performances by Los Pleneros de la 21, the Mariachi Academy and Bilingual Birdies. Every child receives a free gift from the Three Kings themselves.

The Firefly Star: a Hispanic Tale for Three Kings Day – Bedford-Stuyvesant
Shadow Box Theatre at the Bedford Village School, 50 Jefferson Avenue between Bedford and Franklin Avenues
Thursday, January 5 and Friday, January 6 at 10.30am
In advance: $10; at the door: $15
This puppet troupe presents a Hispanic folk tale about how Three Kings Day almost didn't happen one year. The storyteller and guitarist use a mix of Spanish and medieval songs to put across the story.

Camels and Kings Workshop: A Celebration of Gift Giving – Morningside Heights
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
Saturday, January 7 10am-noon
$8 per adult-child pair. Advance reservations recommended. Call 212-932-7347
In this family art workshop, kids hear the story of the Three Wise Men, and then craft gift-boxes, costumes and glittering crowns.

Three Kings Day Parade in Brooklyn – Williamsburg
Sunday, January 8 at 2pm
Starts at Meeker and Graham Avenues
FREE
Yup, Kings County has its own parade. Although the info on the website is outdated (and in Spanish), the organizer emailed us (in English) and confirmed this year's details. The procession kicks off right under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and continues along Graham Avenue to Broadway. The main attraction is the Three Kings and their live camels. Floats, music and hundreds of local public school children accompany this spectacle. Tito Nieves, the Puerto Rican singer/songwriter known as the "Pavarotti of salsa," will serve as the parade's "godfather."

Three Kings Day Festival – Williamsburg
El Puente Center for Arts & Culture, 211 S 4th Street between Roebling and Havemeyer Streets
Sunday, January 15 at 1 and 5pm
FREE
This community organization's 25th annual celebration features food, music and a live performance recounting the story of the Three Wise Men. All kids will be given books about the holiday.