Members of MEChA are betting that two Cinco de Mayo celebrations are better than one.
While Fiesta Latina gets underway today and runs through Sunday at the Washington/Jefferson Park, MEChA will hold a Cinco de Mayo fiesta at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the EMU Ballroom. The event is free.
Like the city festival, the student group’s celebration will offer a night of food, music, theater and highlights of Mexican and Latin culture.
“It’s very rare when we can gather the whole community and the students together and celebrate,” said Alina Hernandez, MEChA programs coordinator.
Members of MEChA will also use the opportunity to educate people on the history of Cinco de Mayo.
“A lot of people confuse Cinco de Mayo with Mexican Independence Day,” Hernandez said. “It is not Independence Day.”
Cinco de Mayo, she said, is the day the Mexican army defeated the French forces at the “Batalla de Puebla” on May 5, 1862. Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16.
MEChA programs coordinator Anna Davila stressed that the festival will highlight Latin culture as a whole, not just Mexican or Chicano culture.
The festival “is not just for Mexican Americans, it is for everyone,” she said.
Entertainment for the festival includes “Las Marias,” a skit adapted from by Teatro Campesino, the political theater group started in 1965 by the playwright Luis Valdez.
“It’s about the stereotypes of Mexican women,” Hernandez said.
After the skit, Maria Montoya, a local high school student, will sing Mexican songs. Sabor Latino, a local salsa band, will then take the stage. The show will wrap up with a local DJ spinning Salsa and Mergengue tunes.
Davila and Hernandez say they expect more than 200 people to attend the festival. At least 12 members of MEChA will gather early Sunday morning to begin cooking for the crowd. Under the supervision of MEChA Director David Jaimes, the group will make a huge vat of “mole,” a traditional Mexican dish.
“We choose mole because it is the fastest and easiest meal to cook,” Davila said.
Jaimes, who is from Mexico City, said he will try to bring all of the ingredients together with a little help.
“I’ll buy the mole paste at the store, but the rest is my recipe,” he said.
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