Twelfth Night festivities occur on the twelfth day after Christmas, which marks the beginning of Epiphany, celebrating the arrival of the Magi, or Three Wise Men, to deliver gifts to the newborn Jesus.

Epiphany is also the official start to Mardi Gras season around the world

Twelfth Night is traditionally considered the last day of Christmas and the day when decorations for the holiday should be taken down. Some believe waiting until after this date will bring bad luck.

On the twelfth night of Christmas in 878 AD, King Alfred was driven out of Chippenham by the Vikings, bringing Saxon rule to the British Isles.

But by the 18th century, Twelfth Night was Britain's most celebrated night of the holiday season.

Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night

In Elizabethan times, when William Shakespeare was alive and writing his plays, Twelfth Night celebrations were known to be quite wild, a final Christmas blowout when traditional hierarchies and proprieties were upset or reversed, the Fat Tuesday of its time.

Shakespeare's comic masterpiece by that title combines low pranks with high comedy. It includes a shipwreck, lost siblings, false identities, gender confusion, and star-crossed love.