Thoughtful Ways to Celebrate Cinco De Mayo in Dallas
The Latino Cultural Center hopes the community will treat May 5 as a day to learn about Mexican history and culture.
By Taylor Crumpton
Published in
Arts & Entertainment
May 4, 2021
1:17 pm
Cinco De Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, which fails on September 16. It’s a day to commemorate the Battle of Puebla, Mexico’s victory over the French, in 1862.
The first stateside celebration was a hyper-regional event, held by Mexican miners in California who burst into songs and speeches after they received news of the historic victory. In Mexico, the holiday is celebrated in a few cities; it’s a relatively minor event. Compare that to the United States, which rings it in with nationwide celebrations, festivals, and parades that has transformed the revolutionary event into an unofficial holiday of cultural appropriative food and drink specials.