We’re so proud to celebrate the 25th annual El Día de los Tres Reyes Magos celebration with all of you. As you might imagine, these types of productions don’t just happen on their own. Early in the museum’s development we created an Advisory Group made up of people from the Latino community to help us authentically serve Spanish-speaking families. Out of that committee’s work together came the idea of a The Three Kings Celebration. At the time, there was not another large community celebration for this holiday in the community, so we decided to work with the advisors and community to create one.
In 1999, we kicked off a new event for the Museum and it was an instant success! Drawing huge crowds, media sponsors, and happy families who were thrilled we were honoring their heritage, along with families who experienced new cultural traditions of their friends and neighbors. It’s still one of most popular events of the year – mainly because of one individual who continues to dedicate himself to helping coordinate this yearly celebration. Arturo Medina recruited and led in the original Advisory Group more than 25 years ago and remains the main force behind the Tres Reyes event today. He secures the media sponsors, coordinates volunteers for tortilla-making, secures and manages the kings, lands PR for the event, and so much more. He works closely with our marketing and education teams to put this program on every January.
As if that’s not enough, Arturo’s involvement comes with additional benefits. Since the first event in 1999, this has been a family affair for the Medina family. Arturo’s three daughters and wife are always on-hand helping – usually making tortillas with our visitors, supporting Spanish-language PR, and more recently, he’s pulled in his new son-in-law to be a king. 😊
The Three Kings Celebration is a beloved event that is still going strong and we have Arturo Medina to thank for that. We thought it was only fitting that we crown Arturo as the King of Children’s Discovery Museum at our 25th annual event on January 7th, 2023 and recognize his tremendous contributions in a more permanent way by inscribing a boulder out in Bill’s Backyard with the phrase: ”El Rey de Los Reyes” (The King of Kings). His hard work has been appreciated by so many families who have taken part in the yearly celebration.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!