5 Curious Facts About Cinco de Mayo
The Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) celebration commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over France in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is a festivity from Mexico that in the United States becomes a celebration of the Mexican culture and heritage.
Click here to get these printable posters in Spanish and English in different sizes.
1. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s independence day. That happened 50 years before the Battle of Puebla and it is celebrated on September 16th.
2. The biggest Cinco de Mayo celebration doesn’t take place in Mexico, but in Los Angeles. It is called Festival Fiesta Broadway and gathers hundreds of thousands of people.
3. Musical artists like War, Senses Fail, and Liz Phair have songs titled Cinco de Mayo.
4. There is more than one theory about the origin of the Cinco de Mayo celebration. One of them indicates that the first one was celebrated in California in 1863… just one year after the Battle of Puebla!
5. In Texas there is a statue of General Ignacio Zaragoza who led the small Mexican army to win the Battle of Puebla. The monument is located close to the rebuilt house where Zaragoza was born in 1829 in the city of Goliad, TX which back then was the Mexican town Bahía Espíritu Santo.
Check out these other Mexican Culture articles.