Netherlands Edition
Dia de Reyes leads today's complete edition for Netherlands.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
Kids leave their shoes out the night before and wake up hoping for a gift from the Reyes Magos. The panaderias sell roscon de reyes, the ring-shaped sweet bread with a plastic baby hidden inside. Whoever finds the baby hosts the next gathering, though everyone forgets by February.
The Day of the Three Kings marks the end of the Christmas season with the eating of a kerststol (a fruit bread with a filling of almond paste) and the singing of carols. The tradition is to hide a bean in the kerststol, and whoever finds the bean is the king for the day. In some regions, children go door to door singing songs and collecting candy, similar to trick-or-treat but with a three kings theme. The Christmas tree is taken down and the decorations are stored for another year. The tradition of Driekoningen is stronger in the Catholic southern provinces than in the Protestant north.