The King's Ball - La fête des rois (or Festival of the [Three] Kings - Twelfth-Night) The 250-year-old tradition of the King’s Ball was brought to the New World by Catholic émigrés, who measured the passing of time in two ways – by agricultural cycles, and the Church’s religious calendar. Lent, the weeks preceding Easter, had special importance for them as a period of repentance and atonement. Music, dancing and fine food were always important elements of the event. But the centerpiece of the annual celebration was the selection of the royal personage.