Celebrate Mexican culture at the NYC Cinco de Mayo Parade.
Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Puebla, Mexico. It is also an American eating and drinking holiday that celebrates our Mexican-American culture.
Many Americans think it is Mexican independence day, but that is in September. However, Cinco de Mayo did play an important role in American history.
Cinco de Mayo on the 5th of May commemorates the Mexican defeat of the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Puebla is a town on the road from the main Mexican Caribbean port of Veracruz to the capital Mexico City.
The French planned to take over Mexico and enter the American Civil War on the Confederate side. At the time, the French army was the world’s best.
The defeat delayed French plans by a year. It gave the Union Army time to strengthen. The French took over Mexico the next year, but by then the Union Army had turned the tide and it was too late for the French to intervene in the American Civil War.
We have a lot to be grateful for. If it weren’t for the Battle of Puebla, we might still be a slave country.
Many Mexican New Yorkers come from the Puebla region.
2018 NYC Cinco de Mayo Parade
NYC’s 2018 Cinco de Mayo Parade is on Sunday, May 6, 2018 from 12 noon – 3 pm.
There will be music, dancing, and fun.
The parade is produced by the Asociación Tepeyac de New York.
#CincoDeMayoParadeNYC
Visiting the Cinco de May Parade 2018
The parade marches down Central Park West from 106th St to 97th St.
Subway
(B) or (C) to 103rd St