Hola fanáticos del traje! Si quieres aprender un poco sobre el Cinco de Mayo, has venido al lugar correcto! Whoa, whoa, whoa and my sincerest apologies. All this thinking about Cinco de Mayo, however has really gotten me excited, even to the point that I am mistakenly writing this blog in Spanish. Let me start this again. Hello costume fans, if you want to learn a little about Cinco de Mayo, you’ve come to the right place! You don’t have to be from Mexico to really get into the spirit and fun that can be found by celebrating this exciting holiday that hails from our Mexican neighbors to the south. Here are a few of the Cinco de Mayo basics:
The History Behind Cinco de Mayo: Once upon a time back in 1862, a very powerful French army decided to head to Mexico and fight it’s way through the country down into Mexico City, where it was their intent to try and force the Mexican government to pay up on some old outstanding debts. The French Army was very well equipped, superbly trained, and early on in their battles in Mexico they had been pretty much destroying all that came into their path. Here’s where things get interesting, folks. When the French army hit a town called Puebla (on May the 5th of course) a very surprising thing happened. Although the Mexican soldiers in Puebla were largely untrained, had few battle skills and were also equipped with some pretty lousy equipment, somehow, quite miraculously, this scrappy army of novices was able to defeat the elite French army and drive them out of Puebla. Now that’s cause for celebration hombres!
Cinco De Mayo Today: A lot of people here in the U.S. are confused about Cinco De Mayo and mistakenly assume that this holiday is Mexican Independence Day. No, no, no, no mis amigos! Mexican Independence Day actually happens on September 16–we must keep our holidays straight! Cinco de Mayo is a holiday dedicated to celebrating the battle win that happened that glorious day in Puebla, Mexico. Interestingly enough, Cinco de Mayo isn’t a huge deal down in Mexico outside of the town of Puebla. Mexican people now living in the U.S. however, have brought the fun along with the true south of the border flavor that is associated with Cinco de Mayo, into the U.S. and this holiday has now been fully embraced by many.
For some of us, Cinco de Mayo may just be another reason to eat fabulous Mexican food while downing a few Margaritas. For others, Cinco de Mayo has become a celebration of an event in past history that brings with it great pride, as well as it being an opportunity to share Mexican customs and culture with the masses. Fantástico!
Getting into the spirit of Cinco de Mayo is pretty easy. From sombreros to maracas, May the 5th is your chance to embrace some of the more exciting elements of Mexican culture and really get in on what promises to be a really exciting celebration. Don’t miss out on the Cinco de Mayo fun! Olé!
