It’s Cinco de Mayo weekend in Denver and the place to celebrate it is none other than The Cinco de Mayo Festival!
This weekend, May 2nd & May 3rd 2015, experience Mexico in the heart of downtown Denver.
This event is a FREE, family wide event and here is a list of what you can expect:
The Cinco de Mayo Parade
Saturday, May 2nd 2015, the Cinco de Mayo parade kicks off the entire festival and starts at 10:00AM.
3 Stages of Live Musical and Dance Performances
The 1st stage is the main stage and is located at the Greek Amphitheater in the middle of Civic Center Park. Traditionally the main stage features various genres of Mexican music and performance art such as: Mariachi, Duranguenses, Cumbias, Banda, Baile Folklorcio and many others.
The 2nd stage is a local stage featuring Denver best local old school, funk, blues and rock bands. This stage in located on the great lawn near Bannock Street with the Denver City and County Building as the backdrop.
The 3rd stage is a community stage where mainly youth and folklore dance performances takes place.
To see the complete schedule of performances by time click here.
Contests
There are also 2 contests taking place:
The Taco Eating Contest sponsored by !Que Bueno! which is a contest of “who can eat 10 tacos the fastest”. The contest takes place on May 2nd, 2015 at 4:00PM and will be held in the center of Civic Center Park.
The Chihuahua Races sponsored by Jammin 101.5 which is a contest determining “who is the fastest chihuahua in town”. The contest takes place on Sunday, May 3rd 2015 at 3:00PM and will also be held in the center of Civic Center Park.
Food Festival+ Children’s Carnival
There also will be a food + drink festival featuring up to 250 exhibitors and a fun children’s carnival!
What is Cinco de Mayo? On May 5, 1862, in the town of Puebla, the outnumbered Mexican army defeated French forces providing the momentum and national confidence to drive foreign power from their country. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of freedom and culture. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the tradition of freedom and acknowledges the beauty of Latino culture.
The Cinco de Mayo “Celebrate Culture” Festival is produced by NEWSED Community Development Corporation who is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. Through their programming they conduct economic development in poor communities and provide affordable housing opportunities to low and moderate income families and individuals.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!
May 2nd & May 3rd
East Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80202
Christy B.
May 5, 2015 at 2:03 pmI love Mexican food, and I’m going to the store hungry, so this was probably the WRONG time to read about a free Cinco de Mayo festival, especially with a taco eating contest. This sounds fantastic. I have to admit, I can’t quite shake the image of racing chihuahuas. Ha ha ha!
As a homeschooling mother, I like that you included a bit of history surrounding the festivities. We an read up on it, go to the festival, and call it a school day. Wink. I also like that by pigging out on tacos I can support a local charity. Thanks for sharing!
Caitlin
May 5, 2015 at 6:37 pmThe Cinco de Mayo Festival in Denver sounds like so much fun for the whole family! I wish we had something like that in my city. I would especially like to see the chihuahua races. I bet that brings a lot of laughs!