Egipto's Three Kings Festival

Young men dressed as the Bible's kings walk thru the festival's crowd. 

Have a beer. 

This was a big weekend for festivals in central Bogota. Yesterday, was La Perseverancia's annual Chicha Festival, and yesterday and today was the Egipto neighborhood's annual Three Kings Festival, honoring the biblical kings who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.

Plenty of chicha for sale. 

With more spirit of fun than religious reverence, the festival is the Egipto neighborhood's annual opportunity to show off. The rest of the year, this poor neighborhood with a reputation for crime and social troubles, attracts few visitors.

Masato, made from fermented rice.

A view of the crowd and Egipto's centuries-old church. 

Garbage collectors get into the fun. 

Selling guarapo, or sugar cane juice.

Views of Egipto's hillside neighborhoods. 

Not vegetarian territory. 

An old woman makes her way uphill. 

Revelers. 

A family takes a picture with the Three Kings. 

Trying out a hat on Tenth St. 

On homemade sleds, kids slide down one of the neighborhood's steep streets.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours