BASKING RIDGE, NJ — 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 areas, including locally in Somerset County.
An Empanada Festival and Car Show is being held on Saturday, May 2 from noon to 7 p.m. at Lincoln Park in Manville.
Tickets are $5, and kids 5 and under are free. The car show is free to experience. Proceeds benefit the Manville PBA #236.
The event will include empanada trucks with a variety of cuisines (Mexican, American and more), beer and wine garden, MegaBite Adventure Zone – pay one price, play all day, face painting, henna tattoos, and local craft vendors.
For information, visit facebook.com/events/1669058074503562.
Maize Cocina & Cocktails, inside the town's historic train station, at 301 N Avenue West, Westfield, is hosting an outdoor celebration on Saturday, May 2.
From 2 to 6 p.m, the event will include CULTR on the DJ, Fizzy Bee pouring margaritas, cold beer, and food coming straight from the kitchen.
There will also be a full yard setup with games and a mechanical bull.
From 3 to 5 p.m., order a specialty cocktail and get a custom Don Julio cowboy hat.
Reservations for indoor dining are encouraged.
For more information, visit maizewestfield.com or follow instagram.com/maize_westfield or Maize Westfield.
Other places to grab tacos 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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