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Cinco de Mayo is fast approaching. Because the origins of Cinco de Mayo are in Mexico, many Americans are fairly misinformed about what Cinco de Mayo actually is and why it is celebrated. Here, then, are 13 fun facts about Cinco de Mayo. File these away and see how many margaritas you can win in trivia contests this May 5th.
1. Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence Day. In America, we say “The 4th of July” when talking about our Independence Day. It would seems natural, then, that “The 5th of May” would be the Mexican equivalent. Not so. Actually, Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of an 1862 battle between an under-armed, under-manned Mexican army against a well-armed French Army led by Napoleon III. Clearly, the Mexican army won, hence the celebration every 5th of May.
2. So What Is Mexico’s Independence Day? Mexico celebrates its Independence Day – the day it declared its independence from Spanish Rule – on September 16th every year. Mexico declared its independence in 1810, more than 50 years prior to the battle that we commemorate with Cinco de Mayo.
3. The Battle of Puebla was short. When we think of war in a modern sense, we think of prolonged battles that last days, or even weeks, with ground forces trudging forward. The Battle of Puebla commemorated on Cinco de Mayo, however, featured about 12,000 soldiers combined (8,000 French and 4,000 Mexican). Yet, the entire battle lasted just about two hours and changed the course of history in North America.
4. So wait, what were the French doing in Mexico in 1862? Think of them as an armed collections agency. After declaring their independence in 1810, Mexico went through decades of infighting, as well as fighting with America. this cost a lot of money. In 1861, Mexican President, Benito Juarez, declared a 2-year moratorium on loan repayments to foreign nations, including Spain, England, and France in an attempt to avoid bankrupting the country. All three nations invaded Mexico to collect on debts. While Spain and England left, France tried to stay and take over the country. Obviously, it didn’t work out for the French as we celebrate Cinco de Mayo and not Cinq mai.
5. Cinco de Mayo must be HUGE in Mexico! Not really. While the Batalla de Puebla helped to unify Mexico around one event, the major celebrations of Cinco de Mayo has largely been contained to the village of Puebla, about 100 miles east of Mexico City, where the original battle took place. In reality, Cinco de Mayo is much more popular in America, where citizens of Mexican descent (and those who just like a good margarita) hold festivals from sea to shining sea.
6.Just How Popular is Cinco de Mayo in America? In a word: VERY. Annual Cinco de Mayo festivals in Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, and St. Paul, regularly draw hundreds of thousands of people. In fact, the world’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration is the Festival de Fiesta Broadway held in Los Angeles, California. It routinely draws about 600,000 people to partake in song, spirit, and dance!
7. My grandparents say they don’t remember celebrating Cinco de Mayo when they were kids. What gives? Cinco de Mayo, as we know it today in America, didn’t begin until 1967. Some students from California State University noticed that there weren’t any Mexican holidays celebrated in America like there were for citizens of other descent, like St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, or Chinese New Year. So they chose Cinco de Mayo as the day to celebrate and gathered Chicano students in unity and celebration. It has gotten a little bigger since then.
8. So they don’t party so much in Mexico, huh? Whoa, hardly. In fact, Cinco de Mayo is just one of more than 365 festivals that are celebrated by Mexicans and people of Mexican descent. No wonder Mexico is such a popular spring break destination!
9. Do they celebrate Cinco de Mayo anywhere besides Mexico and America? While the celebrations aren’t as large or as well-publicized in other nations, some nations mark the day in their own special way. In Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for example, a particular sky-diving club holds their annual Cinco de Mayo jump. Meanwhile the Mediterranean island nation of Malta simply encourages the enjoyment of Mexican beer on Cinco de Mayo.
10. Have margaritas always been the unofficial drink of Cinco de Mayo? Hardly. While Tequila holds a long and storied place in Mexican and Mexican-American celebratory traditions, the margarita didn’t even exist in 1862! While tequila, ice, lime, and sugar all existed in 1862, they weren’t brought together in the form of a margarita until about 1930. Maybe that’s another day that deserves celebration. Just sayin’.
11. Are there any traditional Cinco de Mayo songs? While there are no songs specifically for Cinco de Mayo, there are plenty of songs with Cinco de Mayo in the lyrics, including “Isis” by Bob Dylan and “Mexico” by Cake. In fact, the following bands/artists all have songs titled “Cinco de Mayo”: War, Liz Phair, Senses Fail, and Herb Alpert.
12. The banks are open in Mexico on Cinco de Mayo. Because Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday, and not technically a Federal holiday, the banks stay open. It’s sort of like Arbor Day, but with more tequila.
13. Why Cinco de Mayo still matters. As any celebratory holiday, it is important to honor those moments in a nation’s history when it overcomes tremendous odds. That alone would be reason to keep remembering Cinco de Mayo. The other noteworthy element of Cinco de Mayo is that it represents the last time a foreign army waged aggression in North America… 148 years ago.
There it is, 13 fun facts about Cinco de Mayo. Feel free to add more in the comments section. And, just a reminder: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo responsibly. If you have had too many margaritas or cervezas, please don’t drive. Call a cab or one of your amigos.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! We put a link to in our post about Cinco de Mayo – http://journeymexico.com/blog/2010/04/the-truth-about-cinco-de-mayo/
@Chase Thanks! Great site.
Thanks for that information. I wanted to know a little bit of history about the holiday.
You forgot the real reason Cinco de Mayo is “celebrated” in the modern US….. beer.
Seriously. In the 1980′s the marketing geniuses at Bud needed an excuse to sell more beer. They needed another “St. Patricks Day” on the party calendar. So they hijacked an obscure Mexican holiday and created an extensive ad campaign to get Americans to ‘celebrate’ it.
Notice the ads universally fail to mention WHAT Cino de Mayo is about (which is why Americans assume it is Mexican Independence Day). Notice that instead all the advertising focuses on ONE thing…. drinking. There is no tradition of reverence, remembrance, speeches. Instead, they want you to “celebrate” it by getting drunk.
Classy, eh?
I totally agree. While growing up I could never remember which was day was which (Cinco or Diez y seis was independence day) because in Texas they were celebrated with equal amount of festivities. But I totally agree that the beer companies were the ones promoting this holiday to get people to buy beer and drink.
Also, Mexicans celebrate their independence on the 15th more than the 16th of September. They call it El Quince (the 15th) and start celebrating late at night and then all through the night ’til morning. It’s a huge celebration with people in the streets (kinda like how we do New Years in NYC), with lots of build up the week before.
Hey! sorry to break the news but Puebla, where the battle took place, is hardly a “village”. It´s the 5th largest city in Mexico…
As you say, it didn’t work for the french, for that battle, since the invasion in general did work for 5 years, during which there was an Emperor in the whoooole Mexican Empire.
Believe in EM, Puebla is actually a metro village with a population of nearly 3 million people. Too big for a village I’d say.
Good article and thanks for pointing it out that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day! So many people seem to think it is and I wish this would just be cleared up and that we would have a big celebration on Sept 16.
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