Cavalcade of Magi

The Biblical Magi –of which tradition holds there were three: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar– ride through the streets, as their pages collect the last letters from the children and throw candy to the people in attendance.

The cavalcades are also held in Andorra, Gibraltar, Argentina, Poland, and in some towns in Mexico and Venezuela.

[1] So after greeting the Magi at the cavalcade in town, children are supposed to go home, clean and put their shoes beside the Christmas tree or the nativity scene, and go to bed early.

[2] Those who have behaved badly during the previous year receive coal rather than gifts, though (as in the case of Santa Claus) this is not a frequent occurrence.

Small towns and villages celebrate cavalcades with traditional props, some of which involve Romans, shepherds and camels, while other places have modernized to tractors and fancy cars, though most of the parade goes by on foot and in a few floats.