The great Parade will depart on January 5 at 6:00 p.m. from Elche Park and will end at Julio Iglesias auditorium, where the Kings will distribute gifts
Benidorm finalizes the welcome to the Three Wise Men, who will arrive accompanied by more than 800 people
Their Majesties have already chosen their messengers: Antonio López, Ramón Cano and Gabriel Ruiz
With just one week until the Three Wise Men arrive in Benidorm, the city is finalizing its preparations to welcome them and accompany them on their journey through the streets of the municipality. A route in the form of a great parade in which on the afternoon of January 5 their Majesties will be accompanied by more than 800 people, according to what the mayor, Toni Pérez, announced today in a press conference in which the councillor of Fiestas, Mariló Cebreros, and the emissaries of Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar.
The mayor has precisely revealed who the emissaries chosen this year by their Majesties to prepare for the arrival to the city and organize the distribution of toys and gifts to the homes of Benidorm, "without a doubt, one of the most anticipated evenings for the smaller Benidorms.”
Thus, King Gaspar has appointed as his emissary the former soccer player Antonio López, who "every year organizes a Campus in our city that makes hundreds of boys and girls happy and who, therefore, is very used to preparing events that require “an important logistics” like the arrival of the Magi.
King Melchor, for his part, has placed his trust in Ramón Cano, who until recently has been in charge of the Penyes Association and in whose hands will be the task of “mobilizing those people who give themselves every year to accompany the Three Wise Men on their arrival to Benidorm.”
Finally, Gabriel Ruiz Calafell, is responsible for the sports schools of the Nautical Club where he is “in permanent contact with many boys and girls from Benidorm”, which makes him “very knowledgeable of what our smallest neighbours expect from the visit of Their Majesties”.
And guiding their path, the Kings of the East “will have, as always, the Christmas Star, which this year comes with a surprise”; a surprise that will be revealed next week. The Christmas Star will be in charge of opening a Parade that, as usual, will be divided into two parts: a first playful one, in which the characters from children's movies and series take centre stage; and a second, more traditional one, in which the story 'The story of the Three Wise Men' is performed.
Toni Pérez has announced that their Majesties' entourage includes four dance groups, the Centuria Armada of Orihuela, 11 floats and five musical groups from Benidorm: the Unión Musical, the Societat Musical l'Illa, the Societat Musical La Nova, the Tropical bandeta and Colla de Xirimiters de la Marina.
As is tradition, the musical groups will perform the adaptation of the symphonic suite 'Los Reyes Magos', "which was written expressly for our Parade by the Benidorm composer Francisco José Rovira Peretó." A 'suite', the mayor recalled, which is structured in six parts following the layout of the story: 'The Story of the Three Wise Men', such as 'The Star and the Birth', 'Herod', 'The Shepherds', 'The Arab Souk', 'The Royal Entourage' and, finally, 'The Three Wise Men'.
On the afternoon of January 5, the Parade will depart at 6:00 p.m. from Elche Park and from there it will run along Los Almendros Avenue, Marte, Venus, Ruzafa and Herrerías streets, Plaza de SSMM Reyes de España and Parque de l' Aigüera until reaching the Julio Iglesias auditorium.
Toni Pérez explained that “the entrance of the Three Wise Men into the auditorium is absolutely apotheosis”, and added that the large capacity of the venue allows “sharing that impressive moment with thousands of people”. As in previous years, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar will distribute the first gifts among the little ones. A multimedia show, fireworks and a surprise that will be revealed in the auditorium itself will close the welcome that Benidorm is going to give to the Three Wise Men.
Camp and Royal Postman
The preparations to receive the Kings from the East will be coordinated from the Royal Camp, which is already installed in the gardens of the Plaza SSMM Reyes de España. The Fiestas Councilor has announced that several mailboxes have been set up in this camp for people who wish to send their letter to Their Majesties; and she recalled that on January 2, 3 and 4 the Royal Postman will visit the Christmas Square. On those days, between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the boys and girls will be able to deliver the letter with their wishes to the Royal Postman so that he can send it to the Three Wise Men.
