Cinco de Mayo: What is it? How is it celebrated?

The holiday is big in the US, and has been heavily commercialised. But how did it get to this point?

Dancers with the Mexica Ballet Folclorico perform during Cinco De Mayo festivities in Los Angeles (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Cinco de Mayo – the Spanish translation of May 5th - is not the celebration of Mexican independence as many people believe. In fact, Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration of the unexpected victory of the Battle of Puebla by the Mexican Republic.

The battle took place on 5 May 1862, between a powerful French army (who were chasing unpaid debts) allied to conservative Mexican nobles and a liberal, republican Mexican force.

The 6,000-strong French forces outnumbered the poorly equipped Mexican army of just 2,000 troops. Despite this, the native forces won a decisive victory, killing more than 400 French troops.

Despite the republicans losing the rest of the conflict, with the French eventually withdrawing from Mexico, the Battle of Puebla came to represent courage and bravery against the odds and became a source of pride.

The Cinco de Mayo victory is primarily marked regionally in Mexico and is mainly only commemorated in Puebla state. However, the occasion is a well-known holiday in the US, celebrating American-Mexican relations.

However, this has led to confusion for some Mexican immigrants north of the border.

“The first time I heard about Cinco de Mayo was in elementary school [in the US], when the teachers began talking about this holiday and teaching more about Hispanic culture. We [Mexican students] didn’t even know what they were talking about,” José Alamillo, professor of Chicano studies at California State University, told Atlanta news outlet AJC.

However, the commercialisation of the holiday in the US has led to a rather unfortunate nickname. “Before, it was a small celebration, and it was not focused on selling beer,” said Mr Alamillo. “Now, instead of Cinco de Mayo, they call it Drinko de Mayo.”

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated by Mexican-America citizens in the US with festivals, street parties, food, music and folk dancing.

However, the American commercial instinct is not the only for its popularity in the US.

General Ignacio Zaragosa, who led the Mexican forces to victory, was born in Texas when it was still Mexican territory. He is therefore considered by some to be the first Mexican-American hero.