Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexican culture, not independence

American bars and restaurants gear up for Cinco de Mayo every year, offering special deals on Mexican food and spirits for the May 5 holiday that just falls south of the border.

In the United States, the date is largely seen as a celebration of Mexican-American culture dating back to the 19th century in California. Typical festivities include parades, street food, block parties, mariachi competitions, and baile folklórico, with dancers twirling in bright ribbons and braids and glittering frilly dresses.

For Americans of Mexican or non-Mexican descent, the day has become an excuse to down shots of tequila with salt and lime and gorge on tortilla chips topped with melted orange cheddar cheese unfamiliar to most people in Mexico.

That drew some criticism of the holiday, especially as brewers and other merchants have capitalized on its festive nature and some revelers adopt offensive stereotypes such as droopy fake mustaches and giant straw hats.

The celebrations of that year

With May 5th falling at the end of the work week this year, the festivities kick off Friday night with happy hours and pub crawls in cities like Hollywood, featuring $4 beers and two-for-one margaritas, and a party. alcoholic aboard a yacht on Chicago’s Lake Michigan with norteño music or music from northern Mexico and ballads called corridos.

Celebrations are planned throughout the weekend, especially in places with large Mexican-American populations, such as Los Angeles, Houston, New York, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C.

A Sunday festival in downtown Phoenix will feature artists like Los Lonely Boys, who describe their music as “Texican rock,” as well as lucha libre or wrestling matches with masked opponents. A Cinco de Mayo parade is taking place in Dallas on Saturday, while the Cinco de Mayo Santo Guacamole Run begins that morning at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, California.

What it is

Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the victory of Mexican troops in 1862 over the invading French forces in the Battle of Puebla. The triumph over the better equipped and more numerous French troops was an enormous emotional boost for the Mexican soldiers led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

Historical re-enactments and parades are held annually in the central Mexican city of Puebla to commemorate the inspiring victory over the Europeans, with participants dressed in historical French and Mexican military uniforms.

It’s not?

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, the most important holiday in Mexico.

Mexicans celebrate their country’s independence from Spain on the anniversary of the call to arms against the European country issued on September 16, 1810 by Reverend Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest in Dolores, Mexico.

The President of Mexico performs the Cry for Independence most years on September 15 at around 11 p.m. from the balcony of the country’s National Palace, ringing the bell that Hidalgo rang.

The commemoration usually ends with three shouts of “¡Viva México!” about a colorful whirlwind of tens of thousands of people packed into the Zócalo, or main square, in the center of Mexico City.

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