11 Events To Celebrate Cinco De Mayo In Tampa Bay

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 cities, including a districtwide celebration in Bradenton’s Village of the Arts on Friday and Saturday.

Shops and galleries throughout the Village of the Arts — already known for hosting its Festival of Skeletons honoring Dia de los Muertos every fall — will offer special sales and events during its Cinco de Mayo celebration on both days from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will also be family-friendly activities, live music and pop-up vendors in the district.

Other observances include:

• Cinco de Mayo Run Against All Odds, Saturday, 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., Campbell Trail, Tampa. Includes a 5K, 10K, half-marathon and family-fun mile run.
• Cinco de Mayo at Busch Gardens, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, regular theme park hours, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Features live Latin music by Michael Alvarez and Stella Beat. Limited-time menu items will also be available. Free with regular park admission.
• Dos de Mayo, Saturday, 2 to 7 p.m., St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District on 23rd Street between Central Avenue and 1st Avenue N. Eat and drink your way through the district while enjoying live music from Alejandra Koss and folk dancers.
• Downtown St. Pete Cinco de Mayo Bar Crawl, Saturday, 2 p.m. to midnight, and Tuesday, 4 to 11:30 p.m., various St. Petersburg bars.
• Tampa Cinco de Mayo Bar Crawl, Saturday and Tuesday, 4 to 11:30 p.m., various Tampa bars.
• Cinco de Mayo Latin Food & Music Festival, Sunday, doors at 1 p.m., Land O’Lakes Heritage Park, Land O’Lakes. Live Latin music, dancing, food vendors, Aztec Cocoa, family fun and more.
• Casa Tina’s 34th annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Casa Tina’s, Dunedin. Live entertainment includes Huevo Cosmico (psychedelic Latin folk), Grupo Folklorico Mahetzi (traditional Mexican folk dancing), Wepa Salsa (free basic salsa lessons), Orquesta Infinidad (12-piece salsa band) and a puppet parade led by the Tarpon Springs High School Percussion Ensemble.
• Rocco’s de Mayo, Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., at Rocco’s Tacos, Sarasota. This outdoor block party shuts down the street nearby all day for authentic Mexican street food, DJs and mariachi music, and more.
• Cinco de Mayo Party, Tuesday, 5 to 10 p.m., Agave Bandido, Lakewood Ranch. Live music, fire dancers, stilt walkers and interactive activations.
• Cinco de Mayo on the Pier, 5/9, noon to 10 pm., St. Pete Pier. A day filled with authentic cuisine, vibrant cultural music, dance performances and vendors.

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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