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Cinco de Mayo

Days left:
Cinco de Mayo falls on 05.05.2024 (Sunday)
The date of Cinco de Mayo in other years:
Cinco de Mayo 2023 - 05.05.2023 (Friday)
Cinco de Mayo 2025 - 05.05.2025 (Monday)
Cinco de Mayo 2026 - 05.05.2026 (Tuesday)

Cinco de Mayo

Most foreign-born Americans are of Mexican descent, which is why the heritage of the Spanish speaking neighbors is significant in the United States. Although Americans do celebrate the popular traits of Mexican culture during Cinco de Mayo (“Fifth of May” in Spanish) holiday, they rarely investigate the festivity’s origins. Rarely are they aware that May 5 is not a Mexican national holiday, but a commemoration of the Battle of Puebla from 1862.

Nevertheless, American Southwest, densely inhabited by Latin Americans, is a region that took the lead in the holiday’s celebration. While in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo comprises mainly of a few military parades, the US citizens mark the date with special musical events, decorating the streets with holiday banners, and school lessons teaching about Mexican history. It is the best time to promote the nation’s typical food, such as tacos and quesadillas, or sell clothing items like sombreros.

On May 5, 1862, General Ignacio Zaragoza’s Mexican army defeated a three-times larger French force led by Charles Latrille de Lorencez at Puebla de Los Angeles. The battle was a result of Mexican President Benito Juárez’s attempt to postpone paying off his creditors: Great Britain, Spain and France. The first two countries were more flexible and willing to negotiate than France, which sought to colonize some Mexican territories. The outcome of the Battle of Puebla did not chase the foreign army away from Mexico, but it had an enormous impact on the country’s morale. The unlikely victory proved that the European hegemony could be crushed. For the USA, this defeat had a great influence on the result of the Civil War, because the French had declared to help the Confederacy once the Mexican matter was closed. After the Mexican-American war, which had ended fourteen years earlier, the two quarreled neighbors finally formed a sort of alliance. Within the next five years after the Battle of Puebla, American troops helped the Mexican guerilla to defeat the French army.

Many confuse the Battle of Puebla with Mexico’s day of independence, which is celebrated on September 16 due to the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s revolutionary speech called “Grito de Dolores”. In fact, Cinco de Mayo is hardly a nationwide holiday there, since it is mainly commemorated in the state of Puebla, and all government offices and businesses are open. While Mexican schools are mostly closed that day, American students attend special classes concerning Latino history and cultural heritage. The tradition in the US started with Mexican miners working in the 1860’s town of Columbia; hearing about the battle’s outcome, they began a joyous celebration. Cinco de Mayo had been an important day in California ever since 1863, but it was only in the 1940s that the holiday’s importance rose side by side with the Chicano Movement. In the 1980s, May 5 became a countrywide mariachi-taco party due to the increasing marketing.

Cinco de Mayo is not a federal holiday in the US and no offices, institutions or businesses are closed. It is, however, a cheerful celebration of the country’s most numerous immigrants and foreign-born. Mexico’s culture influences the Southwest of the United States and more; the Latino heritage survives in cinema, television, music and dance. After St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo is another occasion to remind the citizens of the United States that almost all of them are the descendants of immigrants and should regard other cultures with equal respect, because America comprises of worldwide influences.

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