The most magical night of the year is almost upon us. The children of Barcelona have already delivered their letters and are looking forward to a morning full of presents and toys. But before handing out the presents, Melcior, Gaspar and Baltasar will walk around a city that will welcome them with a Parade that is a real spectacle, this time with new music, characters you don’t know yet and improved technical equipment. There is a main cavalcade, but their Majesties also take part in simultaneous cavalcades through the city’s districts.

The Kings of Orient will arrive in Barcelona on 5 January at 4.30 p.m. at Portal de la Pau. As usual, they will be seen getting off the Santa Eulàlia boat (photo: Xavi Torrent). The main authorities of the city will be waiting for them, including the mayor, Jaume Collboni, who will give them the bread and salt, a symbol of hospitality, as well as the keys that allow them to enter all the homes of the children of the city. The Brincadeira company will give an artistic welcome to their Majesties to the city (pay attention, they are wearing a new costume that lights up) with live percussion at the beginning and a new welcome composition by the composer Arturo Calvo.

This year, to commemorate the bicentenary of Three Tombs of Sant Antoni, Melcior, Gaspar and Baltasar will go from the Portal de la Pau to the Circumval-lació walkway in traditional cartsa tribute to one of the most deeply-rooted traditions in the city. This unique moment will offer a special opportunity for young and old to see the King and Queen up close before the official start of the Cavalcade.

This year, to commemorate the bicentenary of the Three Tombs of Sant Antoni, Melcior, Gaspar and Baltasar will go from the Portal de la Pau to the Circumval-lació walkway in traditional carts, a tribute to one of the most deeply-rooted traditions in the city. This unique moment will offer a special opportunity for young and old to see the Kings up close before the official start of the Cavalcade.

Their Majesties will walk along the main streets of the city accompanied by their porters who have been selected, after registration, from among the Barcelona’s youngest citizens who were interested. All this, under a rain of sweets coming from  big candy-canyons that will provide to the assistants a lot of sweet moments. Hold out your hand if you want sweets and see how page Omar gives out candies to the rhythm of the music. The same will happen with the Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica sweets and with the sweets of Ti, Bi, Da and Bo, the characters of Tibidabo Amusement Park, who will also be present at the celebration.

In addition, however, the royal procession will be followed by a group of street art companies that will make the route a great spectacle of light and colour in which you will see many artists showing off their skills. You can already see that, this year, new lighting and sound elements have been designed by the stage designers José Menchero and Ramon de los Heros to give unity to the Cavalcade as a whole.

The Cavalcade, over a kilometre long, divided into eleven large blocks and artistically directed by Barbarana Pons, will be led by page Gregori,page Estel, page Omar and the mail pages, as well as, of course, the Kings of Orient and their followers. Listen closely, because this year, the music of the characters has been composed thanks to a special collaboration, by musicians from Conservatori del Liceu. Thus, Page Estel will lead the royal procession with an entourage, who will dance a choreography inspired by the music of the spheres. It will be performed by Companyia de Dansa CDC and the music has been composed by Alejandro Vivero. King Melcior’s carriage, on the other hand, has choreography by the company Free Bodies and music by Bernardo Rojas. Finally, King Gaspar will be accompanied by a group of dancers who will follow him along the route to the music of Jordi Font, also a musician from the Conservatori del Liceu.

Pages & Kings will parade through the streets of the city with carriages that are an artistic creation, accompanied by music and street arts, because each carriage will have the participation of artists from different disciplines. Among the many novelties in this year’s edition, the redesign of the Xumet (pacifier)block dedicated to the youngest children, the fabulous choreography of Guillem Jiménez‘s laSADCUM company in the Melcior King block and the incorporation of a giant puppet by the South African artist Roger Titley. It is Nana, a character who is five metres tall, who will form part of the entourage of King Balthazar and who symbolises the vulnerability and courage of migrants. There are also prestigious artistic incorporations, such as that of the dancer Lorena Nogal (National Dance Award 2024) who has designed the ground choreographies of the parade or the adaptation of the Carrossa dels sentits made by the company Roseland Musical (which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year) and the inflatable entourage of the company Patx Work, which will form part of King Gaspar’s block and will have music by Xavi Oró. Pay attention to the Coal Carriage, with music by the band of Guillem Albà, and look out for the tribute to the centenary of the Barcelona Metro, which is also part of the parade.

Wouldn’t you like to go down to the city centre to follow the Cavalcade of the Kings? Don’t worry, because, as you already know, the Kings are magical and can be in more than one place at a time, so they will also take part in the neighbourhood or district cavalcades that are organised in areas of the city such as Bon Pastor, Horta-Guinardó, Sant Andreu i la Sagrera, Montbau, La Pau i el Besòs, la Teixonera, Nou Barris, el Poblenou, Navas, Sant Gervasi or in Zona Nord- Ciutat Meridiana.

Finally, remember that if you still have any letters to deliver, you can take them to the Royal Camp set up in the Nou Barris district until 4 January. And if any king is still missing a gift, there is a Fira de Reis set up on Gran Via (between Rocafort and Muntaner) until the 6th of January.

If you don’t want to miss a street arts show that serves to welcome Their Majesties the Kings of Orient, come to the Cavalcade of Kings in Barcelona, but first check the Christmas website of the City Council for all the information about it.