People dancing at the Three Kings' Day Parade (2013) (image via Timothy Kraus's Flickrstream)

People dancing at the Three Kings Day Parade (2013) (image via Timothy Kraus’s Flickrstream)

This Friday, El Museo del Barrio will hold their 42nd Annual Three Kings Day Parade and Celebration to honor the individuals who have made significant contributions to the Latinx community. The celebration will include camels, puppets, music, dancing, and more.

The parade begins at 11am on 106th Street and Lexington Avenue and ends at 115th Street and Park Avenue, with music by Los Pleneros de la 21, BombaYo,  Annette Aguilar & the Stringbeans, and others. Then, from 1pm to 3pm, the party continues at El Museo with free admission to The Galleries. At El Museo festival, guests can enjoy an improv performance by Teatro 220, along with more live music throughout.

And lest we forget, Three Kings day isn’t only for Latinx communities, as adherents to Eastern Christian churches (Greek, Russian, etc.) and members of the Oriental Orthodox communion (Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopian, etc.) continue their holiday celebrations during the same period. It’s never a bad time to celebrate.

When: Friday, January 4, 11am–3pm
Where: 106th Street and Lexington Avenue to 115th Street and Park Avenue, and El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue, East Harlem, Manhattan

Deena ElGenaidi is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University-Camden in 2016, and her work has appeared in Longreads, Electric Literature,...

2 replies on “A Manhattan Parade Celebrates a Latinx Holiday Tradition”

  1. I work with words all damn day. I’m pretty easy-going, try to understand people from different groups, races, ethnic origins, religions, regions, etc. But what is it with the phrase “Latinx?” From my limited knowledge of Spanish, I’m guessing “Latino” is too male (excludes women) and “Latina” is too female (excludes men), but now we have an Anglo(?) modification to cover all the people we used to call “Hispanics?” Who came up with this and is it really the best solution in helping us learn more about Spanish speakers? And what do Latinos and Latinas think of this type of labeling?

    1. It’s been a big debate. People who speak Spanish often hate it, because x isn’t pronounced the same as the way it is used in Latinx, but Latinx appears to be an emerging American latino/a identity that seems to not gender the word. You can google it and opinions are all over the place about it, but it is gaining steam and that’s why we’re using it.

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