Centro Hispano’s beloved Tres Reyes celebration, a cherished tradition that brings families together to celebrate the magic of the Tres Reyes, will be celebrated for the first time at its new home, Calli, on Saturday, Jan. 18, 10 a.m.-noon.
“We are excited to host this annual event for the first time at Centro’s new building,” Dr. Karen Menéndez Coller, executive director of Centro Hispano of Dane County, tells Madison365. “Especially this year, when I think no one knows what to expect with the new [presidential] administration changes that might happen. We just are really happy to welcome people to the new building. It has such a nice vibe to it. I think everybody who visits the new building leaves their energy there, and it feels so good.
“I just feel really proud that we have that space now and that families can really be a part of this event and own it and just enjoy it,” she adds. “I loved our old building because it had so much history and it was part of us for so long. But at the same time, I’m excited about this event and what the future will hold despite all the stuff that we’re trying to navigate. This year, I am looking forward to enjoying our Tres Reyes Celebration. I want to laugh a lot. I want to center our community and hopefully, all the families that come have a great time.”
Centro’s new home, a 25,000-square-foot Centro Hispano building called Calli on the corner of Cypress Way and Hughes Place on Madison’s South Side, officially opened last April and has helped to expand Centro’s programs and reach and to keep up with the needs of Dane County’s fast-growing Latinx community.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
The Tres Reyes celebration at Centro has been a time-honored tradition that has brought joy and connection to the Latinx community for 41 years welcoming children and families from all backgrounds to reconnect with their cultural roots in a warm and inviting environment.
“It’s just wonderful that the community owns this celebration,” Menéndez Coller says. “Through the years, we continue to grow and do other things, but Tres Reyes has always been something that is so meaningful and everyone connects with it. I’m just really happy to be able to have families at Centro as much as possible. And we’re going to try to center events like this throughout the year.”
Saturday’s celebration is made possible by the generous support of organizations like United Way of Dane County, Toys for Tots, Madison Reading Project, Target, UNITS of Madison, Prospanica, and agency partners, along with valued community members and volunteers.
At the celebration, each child will receive a special present and have an opportunity to take a photo with the Tres Reyes. Attendees will enjoy the delectable sweetness of Rosca de Reyes, a traditional holiday pastry, and a warm cup of chocolate caliente (hot cocoa).
“The Madison Reading Project will be at the event this year and we will have a clown for the kids [El Payaso Ponky],” Menéndez Coller says. “This is an event that is put on by our staff along with support from volunteers and community members that want to help out. It’s really a space to bring us all together.
“But I’m most excited about the three kings because I think we have three really meaningful ones this year, like one that actually knew Ilda Thomas, our founding executive director, and another [king] that I think people are going to be surprised to see, because I don’t think he’s done it before,” adds Menéndez Coller. “So it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The Tres Reyes celebration will also have face painting done by Centro’s team and volunteers and a gratitude wall where young people can spread gratitude and cheer by writing or drawing a message to share with their community.
Menendez Coller, who was born in El Salvador and raised in Los Angeles, says that she has really grown to appreciate the Tres Reyes Celebration over the years.
“The Tres Reyes celebration at Centro stands out because it feels so natural. It feels like we don’t have to force anything. We don’t have to be educating. We can be community,” she says. “And that reminds me of growing up in El Salvador and growing up in other places where I didn’t feel like an other person, I felt like I belonged. So it feels like there’s a huge amount of belonging with that event.”
For the past few years, Centro has been holding its Tres Reyes Celebration on the same weekend with all of the activities that go on during the MLK Holiday weekend in Madison.
“That’s really significant for me, because the roots of Centro are around social justice and the three kings, in many ways, signify that seekers of hope and dreams, and it’s a reminder that that’s what we need to continue to do,” Menéndez Coller says. “So it kind of energizes me every year.”
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
The Tres Reyes celebration is open to all children and families, regardless of language or background. No registration is needed. Calli is located at 2403 Cypress Way.
“It’s really a joyous event, and like a unique event in Madison, where there’s just so much happiness and so much activity going on, and it’s just a place to reconnect with people and have a lot of fun,” Menéndez Coller says.
For more information about celebrating at this event, contact Sara Sanchez, Centro’s communications coordinator, at [email protected].
