Old Town San Diego Fiesta Cinco de Mayo Saturday May 3rd and Sunday May 4th, 2008
The Old Town San Diego Fiesta Cinco de Mayo in historic Old Town San Diego along San Diego Avenue will be held May 3rd and 4th, 2008. This event is the west coast’s premiere celebration of arts and culture and the signature event of Old Town, the Birthplace of San Diego and San Diego’s number one tourist destination.
The event features music, food, handcrafts and Southern California’s only reenactment of the 1862 Battle of Puebla. The weekend of activities kicks off on Saturday with a traditional Mercado for shoppers and diners, live music and colorful entertainment performed at eight different venues throughout the event. From the food to the fun, it is always a Fiesta in Old Town!
Event Dates: Saturday, May 3rd and Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Event Times: Saturday, 12:00p.m. - 10:00p.m.; Sunday, 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.
Information for Fiesta Cinco de Mayo is: 619.296.3236
Location: Old Town San Diego and Old Town San Diego State Historic State Park Cost: Free to the Public
Website: http://www.fiestacincodemayo.com/
Annual Attendance: 250,000
Parking: Paid parking is found throughout Old Town or take the trolley to the Old Town Station Handicap parking is available. Come early and stay late!
Internet presenter: Signature Group Internet Marketing, http://www.weputthecommercein.com/
Conatact via E-mail - jphawkins@4mailonline.com
Information: For Fiesta Cinco de Mayo is: 619.296.3236 or visit 1-619-291-4903.
Fiesta Cinco de Mayo Flyer | Download For a vendor application, contact the chamber of commerce at 1-619-291-4903 or Fax application to 1-619-291-9383.
.The 25th annual Old Town Fiesta Cinco de Mayo dates are set for May 3rd and 4th, 2008. The event will run Saturday, 12:00p.m. - 10:00p.m.; Sunday, 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. in the Old Town State Park and south down San Diego Avenue. Come celebrate at the original fiesta in San Diego: the 25th annual Old Town Fiesta Cinco De Mayo. The 41 historic buildings and museums of Old Town provide the perfect backdrop for an authentic community celebration of entertainment, culture and history. During the fiesta, Historic San Diego Avenue is strewn with Mexican papel picado and the sounds of traditional mariachi, cumbia and contemporary Latin jazz can be found throughout 8 venues of entertainment. In the Old Town State Historic Park, watch the re-enactment of the famous Battle of Puebla that took place on May 5, 1862 when outnumbered Mexican soldiers drove out the occupying Imperial French Army from Mexico. Along historic San Diego Avenue, visitors will find special treasures and treats at the traditional Mexican Mercado with more than 100 specialty booths filled with handmade crafts, and a taste of the regional cuisine from one of the 32 local restaurants. This free family event has something for everyone. From the food to the fun, it is always a Fiesta in Old Town! For more information call (619) 291-4903
For general information, call the park directly at (619) 220-5422. For further comments, contact the Visitor Services Superintendent at (619) 688-3398.
Information for Fiesta Cinco de Mayo is: 619.296.3236
Additional information on Chamber contacts for Old Town:
Design Committee: Mark Burgess, Chair
Community Planning Committee: Jeanne Ferrell, Chair
Promotions Committee: Jack Peveri, Chair
Chamber Board of Directors: Fred Grand, President
Boosters Of Old Town: Jeanne Ferrell, President
Historic Old Town Community Foundation: Lehn Goetz, President
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25th Annual Old Town Fiesta Cinco De Mayo
Southern California's premier celebration of Latino arts, culture, history and diversity.
The San Diego Cinco de Mayo is located in historic Old Town San Diego, the birthplace of California. This completely free, sponsored event attracts over 250,000 visitors each year to three days of music and entertainment on five stages, world class food through Old Town restaurants, cultural and historic exhibits and reenactments located in a 22 block area of the Old Town community and Old Town San Diego Historic State Park.
WHAT IS CINCO DE MAYO ALL ABOUT? AND WHY A CELEBRATION IN SAN DIEGO AND OLD TOWN?
The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day, but is should be ! And Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, but it should be. Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. And it took 11 years before the first Spanish soldiers were told and forced to leave Mexico.
So, why Cinco de Mayo? And why should Americans savor this day as well? Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862
The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts from the newly elected government of democratic President (and Indian) Benito Juarez. The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left. The French, however, had different ideas.
Under Emperor Napoleon III, who detested the United States, the French came to stay. They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire. His name was Maximilian; his wife, Carolota. Napoleon's French Army had not been defeated in 50 years, and it invaded Mexico with the finest modern equipment and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. The French were not afraid of anyone, especially since the United States was embroiled in its own Civil War.
The French Army left the port of Vera Cruz to attack Mexico City to the west, as the French assumed that the Mexicans would give up should their capital fall to the enemy -- as European countries traditionally did.
Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa, (and the cavalry under the command of Colonel Porfirio Diaz, later to be Mexico's president and dictator), the Mexicans awaited. Brightly dressed French Dragoons led the enemy columns. The Mexican Army was less stylish.
General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz to take his cavalry, the best in the world, out to the French flanks. In response, the French did a most stupid thing; they sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz and his men, who proceeded to butcher them. The remaining French infantrymen charged the Mexican defenders through sloppy mud from a thunderstorm and through hundreds of head of stampeding cattle stirred up by Indians armed only with machetes.
When the battle was over, many French were killed or wounded and their cavalry was being chased by Diaz' superb horsemen miles away. The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen. This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Pueblo, essentially ending the Civil War.
Union forces were then rushed to the Texas/Mexican border under General Phil Sheridan, who made sure that the Mexicans got all the weapons and ammunition they needed to expel the French. American soldiers were discharged with their uniforms and rifles if they promised to join the Mexican Army to fight the French. The American Legion of Honor marched in the Victory Parade in Mexico City.
It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States to those brave 4,000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But who knows?
In gratitude, thousands of Mexicans crossed the border after Pearl Harbor to join the U.S. Armed Forces. As recently as the Persian Gulf War, Mexicans flooded American consulates with phone calls, trying to join up and fight another war for America.
Mexicans, you see, never forget who their friends are, and neither do Americans. That's why Cinco de Mayo is such a party -- A party that celebrates freedom and liberty. There are two ideals which Mexicans and Americans have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect, ever since the 5th of May, 1862. VIVA! el CINCO DE MAYO!!
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| San Diego Cinco de Mayo Celebration |
Fiesta Cinco De Mayo San Diego's Old Town State Park |
San Diego's Old Town will be the focal point of the city's Cinco de Mayo celebration. Stop by this historic neighborhood April 30th - May 1st for music and culinary events at the district's restaurants and shopping at the mercado. The infamous 1862 Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexican underdogs trounced French forces, will be
re-created.
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