A king cake large enough to feed 700 people will be the centerpiece of this Saturday’s Three Kings Day celebration at the VAPA Center at 700 N. Tryon Street.
For eight years, Manolo’s bakery in east Charlotte has prepared an oversized version of the cake, adorned with dried and candied fruit in traditional Latin American style.
Bakery owner Manolo Betancur says his rosca de reyes, as the cakes are known in Spanish, is the largest on the East Coast. He estimates this year’s cake measures about 20 feet in diameter and will feed 100 more people than last year's version.
Betancur, originally from Colombia, explains that the bread honors El Día de Los Reyes Magos, known as Three Kings Day or Epiphany, the day it’s said that the Three Wise Men visited baby Jesus.
“This is the most important day for many countries,” Betancur said. “In Spain, France, Portugal and Mexico, Jan. 6 is more important than Christmas. It’s a part of the culture.”
The day is also celebrated in much of the Caribbean and Latin America with parades, costumes and gifts for children.
Betancur and his team will be selling the bread, with 65 baby Jesus figurines hidden inside, at the VAPA Center’s free Three Kings Day celebration on Saturday from 12 to 3pm.
The event, organized by the Levine Museum of the New South, Fiestas Patrias and Manolo's, will also include singing, dancing, arts and crafts.
Manolo’s will donate 10% of sales to OurBridge for Kids, a nonprofit that works with refugee and immigrant children in Charlotte.
