Parade

Tonight is the big night, the night the Three Kings come and leave presents for kids.  Before that happens they arrive in town and have a parade, which I did not realize would bring such crowds.

The route is set.

The signs are up.

The field where the helicopter arrives is set, too.
In some towns the kings arrive by train or by carriage.

After their arrival they give a speech about the parade and collecting letters.

 A big part of the parade consisted of very energetic musicians, like a walking taiko performance. Some of them had bags filled with candy to toss to the kids and some had people following with decorated grocery carts filled with cardboard boxes of candy.

Like the 4th of July in Claremont, there were lots of floats with kids' groups - art groups, sport groups, and I don't know what else.  They had great fun tossing candy, too.

 Last up were the kings and I am sorry I don't have better pictures!  They sat up high tossing candy and had their helpers tossing more and also collecting the children's letters (more next post).  I asked a family and they said their kids had their favorite king and would give their letter to him.

Even though we gave away a lot of candy we picked up, we still kept some.  Plus by the time the last float came there was so much candy even the kids weren't picking it up!  I did think a lot of it was cute with the camels and crowns.

With all the candy and excitement I hope the kids of Sant Cugat can sleep tonight!

Edited to add video and to point out that we did not go the end of the parade where the kings presented their gifts Jesus.