Today is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday celebrating Mexico's 1862 victory at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. Denver has a large Hispanic population, and so this is a major holiday here. In addition to today's celebration, there will be a large Cinco de Mayo festival at Civic Center Park this Saturday and Sunday. Years ago, this celebration took place on Santa Fe Drive, which was a major Hispanic neighborhood back then. The entire community would turn out, and the street was filled with food stalls, craft booths, and music stages. Another festival celebrated on Santa Fe Drive was Mexican Independence Day, which takes place in September. It was at the Mexican Independence Day festival back in 2004 that I took the photographs posted here, but since the two events are practically interchangeable, I thought using them would still be appropriate. Both of these festivals were moved to Civic Center Park near downtown as they grew in popularity.
These days, Santa Fe Drive is the home of the Santa Fe Arts District, and between this district and downtown, large, luxury apartment buildings are being constructed, which has changed the entire character of the area. As far as I can tell, there is still a large Hispanic population in the neighborhoods off Santa Fe Drive, but for anyone who does not own their home, it will become harder and harder to remain there in the future.
Nevertheless, the festival at Civic Center Park is also a lot of fun, and it is good to see it return after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid. I myself will certainly be there to walk around, do a little people-watching, and take some photographs. And since Cinco de Mayo is actually on Thursday, and the festival at Civic Center takes place Saturday and Sunday, I will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo, Seis de Mayo, Siete de Mayo, and Ocho de Mayo. Years ago I mentioned a similar celebration plan to Peter, my former Tattered Cover office-mate, and he told me that that is exactly what happened to the Aztecs. Must be true. Warning taken.
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