Epiphany is celebrated on January 6, the same date on which the Byzantine and Roman churches celebrated Christ's nativity and baptism. The change occurred in the fourth century, when church officials moved the Feast of the Nativity to December 25, possibly because they wanted a Christian festival to compete with the pagan festivals honoring the sun god.
In the modern church Epiphany recalls all the manifestations of Jesus as the Christ. Although the primary emphasis of the festival is still on Christ's manifestation to the Gentiles in the persons of the magi, readings for the season include the narratives about Christ in the temple as a boy, his first miracle at the wedding at Cana, his baptism, as well as other passages that emphasize the divine nature of Jesus of Nazareth.
Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on 6th January (or January 19th for some Orthodox Church who have Christmas on 7th January) and is the time when Christians remember the Wise Men (also sometimes called the Three Kings) who visited Jesus when Jesus was a baby or young child. The Bible doesn't say how many Wise Men there were or that they were kings. The number three comes from the three gifts the Wise Men / Magi brought with them.
Epiphany is also when some Churches remember when Jesus was Baptised, when he was about 30, and started to teach people about God. Epiphany means 'revelation' and both the visit of the Wise Men and his Baptism are important times when Jesus was 'revealed' to be very important.
Some Churches celebrate use Epiphany to celebrate and remember both the visit of the Wise Men and Jesus's Baptism! Epiphany is mainly celebrated by Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
In Orthodox churches, Epiphany is also known as 'The Feast of the Holy Theophany' and it is as important as Christmas. During the services to celebrate Epiphany, on the eve of the feast and on the feast day, water is blessed (some churches only bless water at one service). This is to remember Jesus's baptism. The blessed water is used in church services during the rest of the year. People are often baptised on the Feast of the Holy Theophany. After the service, the water is also used by a priest to bless the houses of people in the church. It can sometimes take days or even weeks for the priest to visit all the houses and bless them.
Epiphany Around the World.
Epiphany seems particularly appropriate for a gentile church. It reminds us that God in Christ did something quite remarkable: he extended his grace to those who were originally outside the covenant.
In Spain, Epiphany is an important festival, where it's also known as 'The festival of the three Magic Kings' - 'Fiesta de Los tres Reyes Mages', and is when Spanish and some other Catholic children receive their presents - as they are delivered by the Three Kings!
In Spain on Epiphany morning you might go to the local bakers and buy a special cake/pastry called a 'Roscón' (meaning a ring shaped roll). They are normally filled with cream or chocolate and are decorated with a paper crown.
There is normally a figure of a king (if you find it you can wear the crown) and a dried bean (if you find it you are meant to pay for the cake!).