Twelfth Night

Tonight, January 5, is celebrated around the Christian world as Twelfth Night, the night before Epiphany, the day that the three kings arrived in Bethlehem to see the Baby Jesus.

Twelfth Night is the end of the twelve days of Christmas and is marked with gift-giving and special foods, particularly a King’s Cake (or in France, gallette des royes). This celebration is more prevalent in Europe than in the United States.

Twelfth Night also is commonly held to be the beginning of the Mardi Gras and Carnivale season, which ends on “Fat Tuesday,” February 5 in 2008.

More on the Ephiphany tomorrow.

^{(photo credit: Tonifer/Gnu Free Documentation License)}