Americans, gringos, are obsessed with Tex-Mex food and celebrating anything with margaritas, chips, and salsa. May 5 is a day that gringos have taken to heart as a reason to eat Tex-Mex food and drink Corona beer and margaritas (first invented in the 1940s). But what was Cinco de Mayo? Is it Mexico’s national day? No, that is on September 16.
Cinco de Mayo, also known as Battle of Puebla Day, is a holiday that commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. The battle lasted one day but the Mexicans won so May 5 is a local holiday. The French went on to win the war but their occupation of Mexico was brief.
In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is an change to celebrate Mexican culture. Depending on which source you believe, the celebrations began in 1863 in Columbia, California by Mexican gold miners celebrating Mexican resistance. Other sources say that in the 1960s, hispanic activists began looking for a way to honor their history and culture. What is clear is that in the 1980s, beer companies started using the day as a sales campaign. In 2013, beer sales ($600 million) for Cinco de Mayo outdid those for the Superbowl. The biggest Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in cities with large Hispanic populations, such as Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and New York.
In 2005, the US government issued a resolution (a resolution is not quite a law but is official) to make May 5 a day to officially observe the celebration of Mexican/hispanic culture.
Today, almost every bar and restaurant uses Cinco de Mayo as a commercial opportunity, and do not really care about the actual reason behind the day. And when the day falls on Tuesday… for Taco Tuesday… watch out. Or take Wednesday off.
But now you know. Also, as an aside, Mexico City did not have a Day of the Dead parade until after the James Bond movie, Spectre from 2015. Since 2016, Mexico City has celebrated the Day of the Dead with a massive parade, tacos, margaritas, and beer.
¡Salud!
Truth is that it’s not carnival. That’s in February. But, it’s a small taste of carnival. With chocolate. You don’t have to get covered in chocolate but you certainly can if you want to.
The truck/float/group called Cocoa Devils have a party in July called “J’ouvert in July” to celebrate their trucks. It cost 650 Trini dollars ($100 U.S.) for one-night party that starts at midnight and lasts till daylight. For that price, you get a t-shirt and a drinking cup. Plus endless beer, tequila, wine, and food.
Aside from the main DJ truck, there are drinks trucks, supplemental speaker trucks to blast out the music, and food trucks. At one point, the trucks drive around the stadium providing a drunken parade for revelers to follow.
The food is hotdogs, beef pies, and “doubles.” Good drunk food to sop up the alcohol.
By 2 a.m., the party was well under way. Apparently, Trinis like to “wine” and “lime” which are to twerk and to drink. Actually, they like to do it in reverse: lime’n and wine’n.
What amazed me was the creative ways that people (mostly women) had altered their t-shirts into outfits with various forms of holes and tailoring.
The whole event is well organized with lots of security, toilets, and first aid. While it looked like debauchery, it was actually very neatly done.
The music was so loud that I wondered if my ears would bleed.
There are colmados on every street, which is hard to tell from my blurry photos out of the car…
This may be a class thing… not sure, but I don’t think that the “upper” class hang out at their local colmado… but I could be wrong.