Hundreds of families celebrate Tampa's first-ever Three Kings Day celebration

TAMPA, Fla. - Hundreds of families showed up at the Barksdale Recreation Center for the city’s first-ever Three Kings Day celebration.

The day is most-commonly celebrated in Latin cultures, and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said getting involved in commemorating the 12th Day of Christmas is a great way to honor the city’s diversity.

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"It is critically important, we are such a diverse community that celebrates that diversity and celebrates our cultures, and this is a great example right here," said Mayor Castor.

It was special for Latino families to see this day be brought to the forefront.

"It started by keeping the tradition when my brother and I were young, keeping that tradition alive because when our family was in Cuba, there was no Santa, your gifts came on this day, so I think they thought it was kind of neat thing to keep that tradition alive and the story," said Maria Castillo, who was at the Three Kings Day event with her family.  "I brought both my girls this afternoon and got to see some of the police officers and staff from the city, they got some free books, so it was a nice event, and you can see it’s a great turnout from the community."

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There was food, music and activities for kids outside. Inside, it looked like Black Friday, where families could fill bags with gifts and treats.

"Last year we participated in a much smaller event which was just a toy drive, so it was before Christmas, so very cool that they decided to keep the Christmas season going, especially for Latin communities there are 12 days of Christmas, today is three kings day, in Greek cultures it’s the epiphany," said Castillo.

Gifts were donated by community partners and local organizations, including Toys for Tots.