Cinco de Mayo, always observed on May 5, falls on a Tuesday this year, so the celebration of Mexican heritage and culture starts this weekend in many cities across Southern California.
Viva La Música, a festival celebrating Latin culture, returns to SeaWorld San Diego on weekends from May 1 through May 17, featuring live Latin music, food and cultural performances.
The festival will take place Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with concerts at the park's Bayside Amphitheater and a nearby festival area with local performers, community groups and family activities celebrating Latin and Mexican heritage.
The opening weekend will also feature the return of SoCal Taco Fest on May 2-3, serving the region's best taco spots, live music and DJs, Lucha Libre All-Stars matches, chihuahua beauty pageants, and live culinary demonstrations.
Other observances include:
Cinco de Mayo marks Mexico's 1862 victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla, when an outnumbered Mexican army pulled off an unlikely win.
The date is often mistaken for Mexico's Independence Day, which actually falls on Sept. 16 — decades after independence from Spain was secured.
While May 5 is an official holiday in Mexico, celebrations there are generally modest and largely centered in Puebla, where parades and ceremonies commemorate the battle. In contrast, the holiday has grown into a major cultural and commercial event in the United States.
Cinco de Mayo celebrations here date back to Mexican American communities in California in the years following the Battle of Puebla. The holiday spread nationwide during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and expanded further in the late 20th century, evolving into the widely observed — and often party-focused — occasion seen today.
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