Between December 24th and January 6th, the folkloric celebration of Santos Reis takes place throughout Spain. This celebration is also known as Reisado and Folia de Reis. Regardless of its nomenclature, the character remains cultural and religious.
In España, this festival is celebrated in many regions. The main regions that are firmly in the celebration every year are Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Bahia and São Paulo.
This commemoration is related to the Christian religion, mainly the Spanish and Portuguese ones, who certainly arrived here around the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. The celebration of the Holy Kings is celebrated by the Catholic Church but those who follow the Holy Bible are also aware of it, they just don't celebrate. One of the religions that also celebrates is Umbanda, which has the same commemorative format.
Who were the Holy Kings?
The Santos Reis or Três Reis Magos were Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar. The celebrations are held with the intention of celebrating the visit of these three wise men to the baby Jesus at his birth. For those who know the Bible, they were the three magi who, when they saw the star of Bethlehem, went to Jesus and presented him with gold, myrrh and frankincense.
How are the celebrations?
The celebrations take place between the dates of December 24th and January 6th, in the streets of the different regions mentioned above. The marches involve a master or ambassador, the clowns, the foreman, the three Magi, the ensign and, of course, the revelers.
The costumes used always have many colors so that everything is beautiful and cheerful. In addition, the celebration involves offerings, lots of dancing and music of a religious nature with simple instruments, such as violas, drums, reco-reco, accordions, bagpipes, tambourines, etc. The offerings are related to any gift that revelers wish to give the baby Jesus, just like the Three Wise Men.
It still doesn't end there. Many of the groups from Reisado or Santos Reis present theaters in squares, trying to show the revelers what this encounter between the Three Kings and the baby Jesus was like. Since there are 12 days of celebration and meetings, many typical food and drink stalls can be found on the streets.
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Well, each region celebrates in a different way. In Bahia, the date is celebrated in the same way as Bahians, as it happens with capixabas, paulistas, cariocas, etc., but in the end the feeling is the same! All the rituals of this date are carried out in this format of street, music, dance and offerings, all of this carried out specifically by the Catholic and Umbanda religions.
