2012 Top 7 Cities with Cinco de Mayo Festivals & Parties

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the victory at the Battle of Puebla where heavily outnumbered Mexican forces conquered the French on May 5, 1862.  Jacquie Downey, Director of Sales and Marketing at Shindigz, a leading source for Cinco de Mayo party supplies says, “Today, Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated in the United States at colorful festivals, parades, home gatherings, and classroom parties.”

Shindigz identified seven cities, which rank high in the following criteria for outstanding Cinco de Mayo parties and festivals:

•  Growth- The city’s Cinco de Mayo celebration is up and coming.

•  Authenticity- The city’s festivals include authentic elements of celebration and history.

•  Food- The is food unique, plentiful, and tasty.

•  Activities- Varieties of activities and entertainment exist for all ages.

•  Worth the Drive- The city’s event is worth a 30-minute drive or more to attend.

The following top 7 places represent some of the best, 2012 Cinco de Mayo festivals and events:

#7 Puebla, Mexico – Festival Internacional 5 de Mayo

The home of the battle, Puebla, Mexico is going all out to celebrate the 150^th anniversary. The festival has begun and continues through the holiday weekend. A highlight is the Mole Poblano festival on May 2 – 3, featuring the traditional sauce of chocolate and 20 plus ingredients.

#6 San Marcos, Texas – VIVA! Cinco de Mayo

This gateway to the Texas hill country hosts the 38^th annual festival known for its parade, Little Miss and Miss Cinco de Mayo pageants, music, and Folklorico dancers.  Catch the annual Texas Statewide Menudo Cook-Off. This soup of tripe, hominy and chili is cooked for hours and thought by many to be the elusive hangover cure.

 #5 Chicago, Illinois –  Cinco de Mayo Festival and Parade

Chicago knows how to throw a party!  Held over three days this year, the downtown parade and Douglas Park festival will draw more than 100,000 (some claim 200,000) partiers throughout the weekend.

 

 #4 San Antonio, Texas – Cinco de Mayo at Historic Market + Luminaria 2012

World famous for its Riverwalk, San Antonio hosts two major events over the holiday. The traditional weekend celebration held at the historic Market Square features Mariachis, Tejano and Conjunto music plus cultural dances and food. Added this year is Luminaria 2012, San Antonio’s celebration of arts and artists. Over 300,000 people are expected to be a part of these events.

#3 New York City – Street Fairs and Pub Crawls

New York’s East Harlem’s street fair is one of many Cinco de Mayo highlights. Want pub crawls? NYC’s crawls over the weekend are large and many. You’re sure to find your celebration in this city that never sleeps.

 #2 Denver, Colorado – Cinco de Mayo “Celebrate Culture” Festival

Over 400,000 attend this mile-high celebration over the weekend. Mexican music, food, and arts highlight this two day party in the Rockies. Need we say more?

 

 

 #1 Los Angeles, California – Fiesta Broadway Festival

Regarded as the largest Cinco de Mayo celebration in the world, over 500,000 are predicted to make their way to downtown LA for music, food and games. This year the 23^rd annual Fiesta Broadway is on Saturday, April 29.

Celebrate with Your Own Cinco de Mayo Party

Not traveling? Host your own celebration with friends. Fiesta Table Decorations set the mood for party and Fiesta Lantern Garland brings color and hot pepper accents to the room.

Six Popular Adult Party Themes

It doesn’t matter how busy your life gets, you always have to remember to take time to relax ad unwind with your friends.  Right about the time the adult world hits and work bogs you down and perhaps even college classes take their toll on your sanity, that’s when you need to step back, request a day off, and plan a fun get-together with your friends. (You might want to tell those friends to request a day off work, also.)  While there are many themes to choose from for your party, here are six great, popular party ideas for you to start with.

1. Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Party:  With Cinco de Mayo rapidly approaching, start planning a fun fiesta for you and your friends!  Display cute fiesta candles all around your house or backyard, wherever you’re throwing your fiesta party.  If you choose to decorate your backyard, pick up a fiesta decorating kit to make your party planning that much easier.  Plan on serving chips, salsa, and salsa con queso for your guests to snack on.  Also, would it be a Cinco de Mayo party without drinks? Pick up margarita mix and daiquiri mix, but add fruit juice rather than alcohol for a fun, fruity summer mocktail—this way, your guests get the feeling of margaritas, but everyone stays safe for the entire day.  Serve those delicious mocktails in bright-colored margarita glasses to add to the fiesta-feeling of the day!
2. Poker Night Party:  Who doesn’t love a nice, relaxing poker night?  It’s a night for you and all your friends to dress down, get away from work, and play some cards to relax.  While it doesn’t seem like something you really need to decorate for, the decorations are usually half the fun of a party.  Place a sign in your yard so friends who haven’t been over in awhile know right away which house is yours.  Decorate the game room with clear bulb lights to give the room a relaxed, fun feeling.  Designate a table to the side of the room as the snack table—cover it with a green tablecloth and then sprinkle it with blackjack confetti.  Invite your guests to partake in a potluck and have everyone bring a snack for the group to enjoy.   By the end of your relaxing poker night, hopefully everyone will have won some fun prizes and enjoyed some great food.
3. Movie Night:  Make some popcorn, call your friends, and pick a few movies to watch!  Conduct a small survey of your friends prior to movie night to find out what genre everyone wants to watch—this way, you’ll know what extra funky decorations you can add, like cardboard standees of Marilyn Monroe, plus you’ll be able to pick out a few movies for your guests to choose from.  Offer up the following genres: horror, comedy, old Hollywood, and musical.  That way, the guys you invite won’t hear “romance” or “romantic comedy” and back out.  The next step is to put together little snack bags filled with candy for your guests to enjoy during the movie(s).  Finally, plan on providing soda and popcorn for your guests (hey, it gives you a reason to buy popcorn containers).
4. Football Party:  Take a Sunday or a Monday off and plan a football party!  Get all the classic game day snacks: pretzels, potato chips, salsa, queso, and maybe even cook some hot dogs and hamburgers!  Set up a table with a serving tray so your guests can easily pick and choose what they want to snack on—and place some mug-shaped candles in the center.  Also, set up an inflatable mug-shaped cooler for your guests to grab beverages out of.  Give your guests foam footballs to toss around during commercials—but make sure any breakables are out of the room!  Place football-shaped mylar balloons and bunches of colored latex balloons around the room to give it that final, finished touch.
5. Girlfriend Party:  Get all your girlfriends together for a girls’ night in!  A great way to relax with the girls is by putting in a romantic comedy, kicking back on the couch, and diving into some popcorn, chocolate, and girl talk.  Just remember, you can’t have a girls’ night without a lot of candy—chocolate lollipops, candy bars, and other types.  This also sets you up for adorable favors, like compacts, coasters, and mint tins.  Make the night memorable for your girlfriends!
6. 80’s Party:  Create a fun, throw-back party by decorating around an 80’s party theme!  You can have all sorts of fun, dress up in 80’s attire and blast Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper on your stereo.  It’s all about neon colors, so bunch bright balloons together all around the room.  Hang a door cover on your front door to help set the mood for your guests.  This blast-from-the-past party is sure to make your guests feel like they stepped into a time machine, but a dance party will definitely help them relax!

Whatever theme you might choose, the main thing to remember is to not stress about the party planning.  Your guests will love to be able to just have a time to get away from their crazy, hectic, adult lives and have a little fun again.

Fiesta, Kids! Parties for Children

Fiesta Cactus Limbo Game

Fiesta Parties for Kids

Whether you’re decorating the classroom for Cinco de Mayo, hosting a slumber party, or just making afternoon snack time a little more fun, bright smiles await with these simple, fiesta party ideas for children. Sonrisas poco divertidas te aguardan cuando te uso estos sencillo, ideas de partido de fiesta para niños.

Fiesta Decorations

Adhere cactus, sombreros, and other festive cutouts to walls and drape fiesta or party lights around windows and ceilings. Accent with globos- balloons. The hot times fiesta kit-n-kaboodle includes all of the tableware you need for a group of eight. Entertain the group with pinatas, bulk candy, and loco pictures under a personalized fiesta arch! ¡Decora por un partido muy lindo y divertido!

Fiesta Party Snacks & Yummies for Children

Niños love fiesta party nachos, trail mix, custom cookies, or chips and salsa for a snack. For a more festive look try serving the chips in a sombrero, or placing bandanas at the table settings.

When it’s time to go, sing an Adios Mis Amigos goodbye with  7″ maracas. Loud singing and the dog’s howling will make these party favors extra special! What are some of your favorite, fiesta party ideas for children?

Host a Cinco de Mayo Cocktail Party

Place a festive Margarita Standee at your Cinco de Mayo Party for happy fiesta photos!

Happy Cinco de Mayo day! Originally, this holiday celebrated the surprise victory at the Battle of Puebla in Mexico on May 5th, 1862. But now, it’s the perfect day to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride. A Mexican fiesta party is so much fun, and this is a perfect opportunity to celebrate with delicious food and festivities. Shindigz has all the Cinco de Mayo party supplies you’ll need for a perfect Mexican fiesta!

You can’t have a Mexican fiesta party without a colorful piñata to set the mood. The kids will love tearing into it! Be sure to have extra candy for the adults too! Next, decorate your yard or party with a Mexican-styled chili lantern garland. Your guests will just love how colorful and festive your tables look with these Cinco de Mayo Del Sol Tablecovers. Add ambience with margarita candles for the center of your tables.

A Cinco de Mayo cocktail party needs spicy Mexican food. How about creating less work for yourself by having a taco bar! Let guests make their own tacos. You’ll want hard shell and soft, flour and corn tortillas. Then gather a selection of proteins: sliced beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu, and white fish. For Mexican fiesta toppings, have a blast coming up with some original ideas. Don’t limit yourself to tomatoes, lettuce, pico de gallo sauce or salsa, and shredded cheese. Have a selection of avocado (add some lime or lemon juice so it doesn’t turn brown!), diced onions or shallots, cilantro, feta cheese (not at all Mexican!), rice, beans, or anything else you like!

How about sliced veggies at your Mexican celebration? The more party selections, the happier your guests will be, especially ones with food allergies. More choices make life easier. Add some Mexican refried beans, nachos, and easy quesadillas to your buffet and your party is rocking and rolling. Now put on your dancing shoes and salsa music, and let’s have a fiesta!