Celebrations of Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, mostly celebrating in the city of Pueblo, Mexico where the battle took place. Most of the country considers Mexican Independence Day celebrated on September 16th to be a more important day to express their patriotism but in the USA Cinco de Mayo has become a massive holiday with the large celebrations taking place in Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, ,Houston and New York City. George W Bush was the first president to honor the holiday at the White House.

Mexico Cinco de Mayo isn’t even a national holiday however public schools are closed on the day and battle reenactments are staged in the city of Puebla where the battle took place. The largest Cinco de Mayo celebration takes place in Los Angeles called fiesta Broadway and draws hundreds of thousands of people each year. One of the goofier traditions happens in Chandler Arizona where each year they hold a Chihuahua race. The delightful doggie race has cash prizes for the fastest Chihuahua and even crowns a king and queen. Longmont Colorado hosts another silly celebration where thousands of people gather for food, shopping, car shows, live entertainment and most importantly to ground the king and queen of the Chihuahua beauty contest. That’s right there’s two separate festivals that include crowning a Chihuahua king and queen.

Windsor Ontario, Canada holds a Cinco de Mayo street festival. A skydiving Club near Vancouver holds a skydiving event called the Cinco de Mayo Buggy and the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean hold a Cinco de Mayo air guitar competition. Small celebrations are also held in Montego Bay (Jamaica), Australia, London, Tokyo, New Zealand and even Paris. Interestingly Spain doesn’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo instead they have Dos de Mayo or the 2nd of May a holiday that commemorates their own battle against the French in 1808.