05 Jan 2025

Three Kings Parade in Alcoy-Alcoi

Name: Three Kings Parade in Alcoy-Alcoi
Start: 2025-01-05T13:09
End: 2025-01-05T13:09
Location: Three Kings Parade in Alcoy-Alcoi

Festivity of National Tourist Interest

Alcoy

Alicante-Alacant

Alcoy

It has been held since 1885 and is the oldest parade in Spain.

Young and old alike experience Christmas and the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Alcoy with special excitement. On the Sunday before 6 January, the day of the Three Kings, children dressed as shepherds parade with their flocks to present a gift to the newborn baby Jesus: this is the children's parade of “les Pastoretes”. From that point, the excitement grows by the minute until the 4th of January, when the royal emissary announces the imminent arrival of Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar through a proclamation read out all over the city. This is accompanied by “les Burretes”, small donkeys that carry the letter boxes where the children put their letters to the Three Wise Men.

And finally, at sundown on the following day, 5 January, the big moment arrives: the Three Wise Men make their spectacular entrance into Alcoy, riding camels and loaded down with gifts. They walk through the streets of the city, following the “antorcheros” or torchbearers who light their way, while the air is filled with Christmas music and the royal pages (“els negres”) deliver presents to the children, using wooden ladders to climb up to the balconies and windows of the houses, flooding this special night with magic.