Three Kings Day is a cherished religious and cultural tradition in many Latin American countries, and places in Berks County and the Lehigh Valley will celebrate the beloved holiday.
SteelStacks in Bethlehem will celebrate El Día de los Reyes (Three Kings Day) at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Musikfest Café.
Children can take part in a variety of fun-filled activities, including arts and crafts and a visit with Einstein the snow camel from 2:30 until 3:30 p.m. Food will be available for purchase from Holy Infancy Church. Allentown’s Marine Toy for Tots has contributed to the event.
Latin band Herencia Jibara will perform from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., there will be story reading by MEGA Radio and the three kings, and then children will be escorted to the Fowler Blast Furnace Room for toy distribution.
Three Kings Day celebration in Reading
Reading Mayor Eddie Morán will host his seventh annual Three Kings Day celebration and toy giveaway at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the DoubleTree Hotel, which is located at 701 Penn St. in center city.
Toys will be distributed to children from infancy through age 14, while supplies last. Children must be present to receive a toy.
Free parking will be available at the hotel and in the state parking lot across the street from 3 until 8 p.m.
Three Kings Day at Lights in the Parkway
Allentown has expanded its Light in the Parkway’s free Move it Mondays to include Jan. 5 and 6 (a Tuesday and the last day of the holiday light display), during which people are invited to walk, run, or bike through the lights from 5:30 to 10 p.m.
On Monday, Lights in the Parkway will celebrate Three Kings Day, a tradition rich in cultural and religious significance.
Known as Epiphany or Theophany, this Christian feast commemorates the journey of the three wise men —Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar — to present gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to baby Jesus, and it marks the end of the festive “12 Days of Christmas.” In Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries, before children go to sleep on Jan. 5, they leave a box with hay beneath their beds so the kings will leave them presents.
There will be a live Nativity scene featuring a camel and sheep courtesy of Peaceable Kingdom petting zoo.
La Mega radio will provide music and a crown giveaway.
Children will receive tickets redeemable for toys and a raffle prize, while supplies last.
Foods such as tamales, pastelillos, and hot chocolate will be available from ICDI, Boris Cake, and other vendors.
Visitors can also experience the traditional Puerto Rican caroling styled, called parranda.
Free shuttles will run from the fire academy parking lot at 1902 Lehigh St. to the entrance of Lights in the Parkway.
No reservations are required.
Tuesday will be the final time to see the lights for the 2025 holiday season. The Disney movie “Frozen” will be shown, and there will be meet-and-greet sessions with the film’s characters.
Twelfth Night Hogmanay
This week also marks the festival of Twelfth Night, which takes place on the last night of the 12 days of Christmas.
In Tudor England, Christmas began on Dec. 24 and culminated in a rowdy feast on Jan. 6 for Twelfth Night. After its successful debut two years ago, the folk group The Chivalrous Crickets is bringing back its Twelfth Night Celebration: Hogmanay with a party on Saturday at The Ice House, which is located at 56 River St. in Bethlehem.
This year’s event will feature the traditions, customs, and music of Scottish Hogmanay.
For centuries after the Reformation, Scottish Parliament banned the observance of Christmas, but the call to midwinter revelry runs deep in the blood of northern people. From the lowlands to the islands, Scots simply transferred their ancient yuletide practices to the new year. No one knows where the word Hogmanay came from, but today, its unique traditions are still honored in huge gatherings rivaling modern Christmas itself.
The Chivalrous Crickets blends modern Hogmanay with ancient Scottish yule along with its standard fare Celtic antics and songs to present a special gathering of holiday merrymaking, mischief, and spiritual connection.
Piping, caroling, ceilidh dancing, guising, divination, hors d’oeuvres, trivia, children’s games and more await the curious reveler, with lobby activities beginning around 6:15 p.m.
Participation and wild dress are encouraged.
Tickets cost $20 to $25 for adults and $10 for youth.
Kutztown church tour
Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greenwich Township, Berks County
The Kutztown Area Historical Society will hold the Churches of Kutztown open house from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday at eight churches in and around the Berks County borough. Admission is free.
Participants can visit the participating churches, learn their history, and enjoy the Christmas decorations. After the tour, they can stop by the historical society for an open house, tours, model trains, and a holiday snack.
Participating churches are Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1343 Long Lane Rd., Greenwich Township (pictured); The St. Barnabas Center of Kutztown, 234 E. Main St., Kutztown; St John’s Lutheran Church, 201 E. Main St., Kutztown; Cornerstone Community Church, 125 Koffee Lane, Kutztown; Trinity Lutheran Church, 357 W. Main St., Kutztown; Grace Church, 421 W. Main St., Kutztown; St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 14833 Kutztown Rd., Richmond Township, and Zion Moselem Lutheran Church, 340 Moselem Church Rd., Richmond Township.
The historical society is located at 212 S. Whiteoak St. in Kutztown.
Allentown Art Museum ArtVentures
The Allentown Art Museum will begin 2026 with a new ArtVentures project inspired by its special exhibition, Amanda Valdez: Aftertouch, which will be on display through May 17.
Blurring the lines between painting and textiles, Valdez brings a deeply tactile perspective to abstraction. This exhibition features 20 of her hybrid works, which combine weaving, embroidery, sewing, dyeing, painting, and drawing to challenge the hierarchies that have traditionally separated fine art and craft.
Valdez cuts apart raw canvas — the quintessential support for Western painting — then sews it back together, embedding sections of vibrantly colored fabric. She then adds paint, oil stick, and thread, which push and pull against the seams of the reconstructed canvas, activating a rich dialogue between structure and surface.
Valdez’s unique process alludes to the histories of painting and textiles, and their entanglement with gender, race, and systems of power. Disrupting these narratives, her richly colored and textured works honor the hand, the body, and the politics of making.
Visitors can explore Valdez’s artistic practice and create their own artwork using color, shape, and their creative intuition. They can paint, draw, and stamp their way to a unique masterpiece with guidance from a museum educator.
In honor of the intricate Mayan textiles now on view in the museum’s American galleries, educators will show how to create a weaving using a small loom and yarn. Images of the weavings will be available to provide inspiration. ArtVentures is free and open to all ages from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Arte y Español will be offered from 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Visitors will hear a reading of “Donde Está Spot?,” explore Henry Ossawa Tanner’s artwork Lion Licking Paw, and finish by creating their own animal sculptures.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Admission is free.
German Christmas service
St. John’s Lutheran Church in Emmaus, Lehigh County, will hold its annual German Christmas service of lessons and carols on Sunday. The church is located at 501 Chestnut St.
The service, which will be spoken and sung entirely in German, will begin at 5:45 p.m., and there will be a prelude of music and candle lighting.
The guest musicians will be the Williams duo, featuring Ted Williams on classical guitar and Sarajane Williams on harp.
A German cookie and coffee fellowship will follow the service in the parish hall
The Rev. Woody Maxon is pastor at St. John’s, and Timothy Ginder is organist and director of music ministries.