“Dia de Reis”: a tradition in Madeira
Every year on January 6th, Portugal, including Madeira, celebrates “Dia de Reis” (“King’s Day”). According to tradition, it is to celebrate the day when the three wise men from the East visited the newborn child Jesus on the night of January 5-6 after being guided by a star.
King’s Day is celebrated widely throughout Europe, but particularly in Spain, and Latin America, ‘El Dia de los Reyes’, as it’s called in Spanish, marks the glorification of baby Jesus by the Three Wise Men. The day is also known as the Catholic Feast of the Epiphany.
The three wise men – Reis Magos – Belchior, Baltazar and Gaspar gifted the child Jesus, gold, incense and myrrh. Tradition also dictates that on this day the family reunites to celebrate the end of Christmas celebrations.
The end of Christmas celebrations
Throughout the country, people traditionally call door to door in their neighbourhoods. They are invited to enter neighbours’ houses and are offered snacks such as sweets, cold cuts of meat, wines, etc.
“Bolo Rei” (English: “King’s Cake”) is a traditional Portuguese cake that is usually eaten around Christmas, from December 25th until January 6. The cake itself is round with a large hole in the centre, resembling a crown covered with crystalised and dried fruit. It is baked from a soft, white dough, and in some of these cakes there is the characteristic dried “fava” (broad) bean or small Wise Man figurine. Tradition dictates that whoever finds the fava bean or the Wise Man figurine, must pay for next year’s cake.
Câmara de Lobos Mega King’s Cake
After two years of interregnum due to the pandemic, Câmara de Lobos City Council will this year once again share a “Mega” King’s Cake with the population on Sunday, January 8th, at 11:00 am – anybody can turn up.
As the city council attested in a note sent to the editorial office of the local press, this will be the biggest ever, weighing 265 kilos and measuring around 180 metres in length.
The cake for this seventh edition will be made by Pastelaria Rainha and will be 180 metres long, for a total of around 265 kilograms.
COVID-19 in Madeira: updates can be found in an earlier post
All the incidental news from Madeira – up to 60 reports per day – is being picked up automatically, translated, and posted on our sister website, madeiraislandnews, no matter how trivial
