The Villa Victoria Center for the Arts at 85 West Newton Street was quite literally packed to the rafters on Friday, January 8 as about 250 guests filled tables in the auditorium and the balcony for IBA's (Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción) annual Three Kings Day celebration commemorating the visit of the Magi to the newborn Jesus and the end of the Christmas season.
Attendees enjoyed musical and dance performances culminating in a singalong, pizza and home-cooked food and the distribution of gifts to children by the Three Wise Men themselves. State representative Byron Rushing and his wife, longtime community activist Frieda Garcia, were among the guests.
While IBA CEO Vanessa Calderón-Rosado delivered her welcome and closing remarks and all announcements in both English and Spanish, the performances were all in Spanish, featuring traditional Puerto Rican songs and dances for the occasion. Three men dressed as the Magi circulated among guests and joined the musical group Tipiquiendo el Sabor, with guests of all ages dancing in front of the stage. A woman and child dance team whirled gracefully in traditional costumes and a young man named Sebastian sang with a power and poise that belied his middle-school years.
The buffet included barbecue with rice prepared by the cooking staff of IBA's pre-school as well as pizza supplied by The Upper Crust. Toward the end of the evening, Tipiquiendo el Sabor played some popular Three Kings day songs for children with lyrics projected on the wall so that all could join in and the band invited the children onstage.
After the singalong, Calderón-Rosado thanked attendees for coming and called numbers for families to proceed to La Galería, the adjoining art gallery, to receive gift bags courtesy of Toys for Tots and Toys for Joy handed out by the Three Kings.
In her remarks, Calderón-Rosado also invited guests to the opening of the upcoming exhibit "Dead Roses: A Visual Interpretation of Love" by photographer and Villa Victoria native Pedro Cruz at La Galería on January 29 at 6:00 PM.