Culture and Christmas: Latin Americans celebrate heritage on Three Kings Day

GREENACRES — Hispanics from across South Florida celebrated the arrival of the Three Kings on Saturday at the city’s Fiesta de Pueblo by singing, clapping and dancing under the rain.

Heavy rainfall and strong winds threatened to cancel the festival this year but the weather didn’t deter attendees or performers from chanting, twirling and stomping to live music.

"We will dry up with salsa," said David Lucca, lead singer of Los Clásicos de la Salsa.

Thousands gathered Saturday for the annual Fiesta de Pueblo at Samuel J. Ferreri Community Park in Greeancres, where people from 21 Latin American countries showcased their cultures by wearing traditional clothing, serving typical foods and dancing to their music.

Hispanics are Palm Beach County’s largest and fastest-growing racial group. Its population increased more than 20% over the last 10 years, according to 2020 Census numbers. To accommodate the growth, the Palm Beach County Commission created a new district last year, District 3, which is mostly Hispanic and includes Greenacres, Palm Springs, and Lake Clarke Shores.

Rebeca Melecio and Vicky Rodriguez, natives of Puerto Rico, have lived in Palm Beach County for more than 20 years and say the Latino community has grown more diverse and has established itself as entrepreneurs. "Before we were pushed to the side,” said Melecio, a Lake Worth Beach resident. “Now, we have our own restaurants and businesses.”

Melecio and Rodriguez say the Fiesta de Pueblo has allowed them to keep their family traditions alive. They jumped from their foldable chairs to dance when the band played "Fiesta de Pilito,” a classic Puerto Rican Christmas song.

"We are celebrating the Three Kings like if we were at home," Rodriguez said. "We come to connect with our island, our music and our people.”

Spain and Latin American countries celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings on Jan. 6. The Catholic holiday references the New Testament story of the three kings who traveled from the East to Bethlehem to bring the newborn Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The festivial however, is celebrated slightly differently by each nationality.

In Puerto Rico, families start the celebrations a day before by having children pluck out grass from the garden and put it next to a bowl of water for the camels who were the beasts of burden in the Middle East. In the morning, the kids open up gifts and then go to a community festival.

In Mexico, the holiday is marked by the baking of a “rosca de Reyes,” which is a round, sweet bread decorated to look like a crown. Inside, there is a plastic baby symbolizing Jesus. Whoever gets it has to cook tamales for the rest of the family.

In Peru, they celebrate “La bajada de Reyes,” Spanish for "the descent of the Kings," with “cabalgatas,” or parades where the kings go around distributing sweets to children.

Juan Pagan and Santos Arroyo, founders of the Florida Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, organized the first Fiesta de Pueblo in Greenacres in 2016.

The annual event features performances by local high school students, live music by Latin and Caribbean bands and a signature Three Kings parade, in which Melchior, Gaspar and Baltazar give candy, gifts and stuffed animals to children.

Pagan said the festival has become a tradition for Palm Beach County’s growing Hispanic population and attracts Latinos from all across South Florida who travel for the event. "This is not only for Hispanics,” Pagan said. “It's for the entire community to celebrate the integration of our cultures.”

Sara Castillo, 17, who is Colombian, performed for the first time Saturday at the Fiesta de Pueblo along with her classmates from John I. Leonard High School. By the time it was the group’s turn, it was pouring.

They opted to take off their shoes to dance barefoot and hugged each other in a circle before going on-stage. Their choreography took the audience through the steps of cumbia, salsa choke, and hip-hop.

"Hispanics, we are like, 'We are going to get this done’,” Castillo said. “What is a little rain going to do? We're gonna do it either way. We're really determined. We're really hard-headed.”

Castillo was 2 years old when her family moved to West Palm Beach from Pereira, Colombia. She thinks a lot of children who immigrate at a young age tend to forget their heritage.

“They don’t have a lot of people that look like them and they are ashamed of it and they forget it,” Castillo said. “This is a way to show kids you can have fun with your culture.”

Joselyn Rosales-Trejo, 12, and her siblings Cesar, 11 and Jimena, 9, live in Vero Beach. For the last six months, they have been rehearsing traditional Mexican dances at their local church. On Saturday it was their second time performing in front of an audience.

And it was their first time dancing in the rain, they said.

“It was hard. We were excited but scared,” Joselyn said, water dripping from her pink, laced dress. “But we would do it again.”

"It felt great,” added Cesar, who wore a red bandanna and traditional charro pants.

Their parents, Blanca Trejo and Alberto Rosales, cheered them from the crowd. They enrolled their three children in dance lessons so they could experience the traditions they grew up with back home.

“We are so proud,” Trejo said. “They do it with such joy and emotion. We never thought they would get so into it.”

Claudia Castillo, 19, learned how to dance traditional Venezuelan dances seven years ago when her family moved to the United States from Valencia, Venezuela's third-largest city.

Her academy, Venezuela Danza y Tambor, has performed at the Fiesta de Pueblo for eight years. Castillo says "Danza nacionalista Venezolana" is a cultural expression that projects her country's folklore on stage.

"I feel like the instruments enter my soul,” Castillo said. She wore red lipstick, a high bun and a dress with the red, yellow and blue colors of the Venezuelan flag. “It’s an expression of happiness.”

Castillo became an instructor and led the youngest students through their choreography.

"I’ve learned so much about different dances, technique and our history,” Castillo said. “And now I have the opportunity to teach it to another generation.”

Vicmari Avila, the academy’s director, said the performances at Fiesta de Pueblo have allowed her to transmit her passion for Venezuelan dances and traditions to her students.

"We want to keep our culture alive,” Avila said. “We don't want to hide it.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Greenacres' Fiesta de Pueblo celebrates cultures of Latin America