Thursday, January 7, 2010

Epiphany

In the Catholic tradition January 6 is the day that the three kings arrived with their gifts for the baby Jesus. It is a national holiday here in Italy and my son and I celebrated it by going to the Kismet Theatre in Bari to see a production of Hansel and Gretel.


The entryway into the theatre was decorated like a path through a dark forest and we had to pass through a dark and lonely cabin to find our seats. This is the same production of Hansel and Gretel that we saw last summer in Molfetta at the Ti Fiabo e Ti Racconto Children's Theater Festival (for a photo of the set, click here), and it was definitely worth seeing another time.



After the show hot chocolate and sweet buns were served outside the theater around a large bonfire, and three three kings arrived.


These kings were created by children in a creative laboratory held on the morning of the 6th and were manipulated by the children themselves by means of long poles.

11 comments:

Tinsie said...

That looks great! Epiphany is a holiday (bigger than Xmas) in Greece too. Sadly, in the UK, it's just another working day. Sigh.

Leif Hagen said...

Looks like an awesome way to spend 3 Kings day! We don't really celebrate that day much here. Happy Epiphany! Happy New Year!

B SQUARED said...

Sounds like a wonderful time to have shared with your son.

Rob Siemann said...

Epiphany is bigger than Christmas here as well, the whole town went crazy! Seat were reserved for the Magi in the busses...

Anonymous said...

There is magic in an Italian childhood! Hold on to it as long as you can.

Jess

Hilda said...

I like your three kings tradition!

Chuck Pefley said...

Your first photo of the pathway is fascinating. Was this illuminated via black-light? Definitely looks like a fun event!

Saretta said...

Yes, Chuck, it was a black light thing. Very spooky and really set the scene for what is a very frightening story!

Leah Marie Brown said...

I frequently enjoy your blog. This entry was a lot of fun. I just returned from a month long Europe trip, where I was fortunate enough to witness the way several countries celebrate Christmas. Awesome. I hope you will visit my blog and check out my pictures. I will be adding new articles and photos of the places I visited every few days, starting with Paris.

All the best,

Leah ~


http://leahmariebrown.blogspot.com/

Phivos Nicolaides said...

Amazing pictures!

Ming the Merciless said...

I realized this was a HUGE holiday in Europe when I was in Rome last year at this time. All the flights from NYC to Rome were full.

Awesome photos.