Día de la Candelaria

In Spanish speaking countries Día de la Candelaria always falls on Feb. 2, exactly 40 days after Christmas (and the same day as Groundhog Day in the U.S.). 

Families that celebrate this day at home usually host a special dinner that involves tamales.  Maureen Kehoe, our Director of Operations, has a line on the best tamales in Chicagoland.  The tradition actually begins  a month earlier on Three Kings Day when we share a typical holiday cake called Rosca de Reyes (Kings Cake) which has a small baby Jesus baked into it.   The person who finds the figurine in their slice of rosca is in charge of hosting the tamale party on February 2nd.

This tradition coincides with Groundhog Day, promising spring, and World Wetlands Day which is established to raise awareness of these critical ecosystems, and the U of I Virtual Career Fair.  With all these events, we need the delicious tamales just to get through the day!