5 of the Biggest and Best Places to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo This Weekend

Cinco de Mayo is a truly Mexican-American holiday, celebrating not the history behind the holiday — the humble Mexican defeat of a well-equipped French invasion in the town of Puebla — but rather the spirit and pride of the victorious underdog. Interestingly, it’s really not a big holiday in Mexico, while north of the border it’s widely celebrated as an excuse to drink terrible margaritas.

If you’re looking for an excuse to legit connect with Mexican culture, food, and communities though, there are proper Cinco de Mayo festivals happening near just about every major Mexican-American community in the country. Here are five of the biggest and best places to celebrate Cinco de Mayo the right way this year:

2Denver

Cinco De Mayo Denver BeLatina

Cinco de Mayo Celebrate Culture Festival

Saturday and Sunday

Denver’s Cinco de Mayo Celebrate Culture Festival is the biggest gathering in the country, bringing nearly 400,000 each year to the Civic Center Park. The festivities begin on Saturday morning with a big parade around the Civic Center. After that, you can catch dance and musical performances on the hour every hour, or take your kids to the carnival. If you’re feeling competitive, enter yourself into the taco eating contest. If you love dog racing, check out the riveting Chihuahua races. The festival is sponsored by a local nonprofit that promotes economic development in low-income communities and expands access to affordable housing for low- to middle-income families.