Three Kings Day

Puerto Rico keeps one of the longest Christmas seasons anywhere, running from late November until well into January, and its real climax is not the twenty-fifth of December but the sixth of January, when the Three Kings bring gifts. Children leave grass under the bed for the camels the night before. Juana Díaz has staged the largest celebration on the island since the 1880s, with a procession of the kings on horseback through the town and tens of thousands of visitors, and the town's carvers make the santos of the kings that appear on household altars everywhere. The octavitas that follow extend the season by another week of visiting and music.

What you actually see

• The Juana Díaz procession - the kings on horseback through the town.
• Grass under the bed - the tradition children keep the night before.
• Santos of the kings - the carved figures made for household altars.
• The octavitas - the week of visiting and music that follows.

When to go

The sixth of January, with the Juana Díaz procession the main event and celebrations across the island the same day. Parrandas, the roving house-to-house serenades, run through the whole season from late November. Book accommodation early for the January dates.

Honest expectations

It is a single day and the Juana Díaz event draws very large crowds into a small town, with heavy traffic and limited parking. Much of the wider celebration happens inside family homes rather than in public, so a visitor sees the procession and the street side of it rather than the substance. Many businesses close.

Nearby

Ponce is twenty minutes west; the Tibes ceremonial centre is nearby.