raeanna74

I don't understand why there's so many advertizments and 'propaganda' about a holiday that really has nothing to do specifically with our country. I've gone to look up what the holiday is about but if we're gonna start on this 'multicutural' road why not start celebrating the end of The French Revolution, The Opium War, or the Crimean War? Why so much emphasis on the Battle of Puebla? If this is so important then why don't we have a bigger celebration for the end of the Civil War?

I know this may sound a little closed minded. But I honestly am a little surprised by all the hoopla. I never noticed much of it before. Is it because of these Immigration changes and protests? Are there any other reasons that I'm hearing about it more??

Do many of you pay attention to it or celebrate it? Do you just use it as an excuse to party?

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My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Willravel

Beer.
...........
I know the history, but for most it's just about having a weekend to hang out with friends and family and enjoy Mexican beer. I don't think there is anythign wrong with that. I also celebrate Oktoberfest and St. Patrick's Day. Same diff.

Meditrina

I know very little about it. I wouldn't say I celebrate it, but I use it as an excuse for my husband to take me out to a Mexican restaurant for my bday (which is 2 days later). I feel the same as all the other "drinking" holidays. I am not Mexican, Irish, or German, but it is fun to drink the different beers and eat the foods of that nation. Makes that day a little bit more than a normal day.

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maleficent

I'm all for celebrating holidays... just as long as I don't have to send a gift, I'm sure I can find a card for it...

January -- Australia Day on the last Monday in Australia's calendar

January 1 -- New Year's Day throughout the Western world and in India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand; founding of Republic of China (Taiwan)

January 2 -- Berchtoldstag in Switzerland

January 3 -- Genshi-Sai (First Beginning) in Japan

January 5 -- Twelfth Night (Wassail Eve or Eve of Epiphany) in England

January 6 -- Epiphany, observed by Catholics throughout Europe and Latin America

mid-January -- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, birthday on the third Monday in the Virgin Islands

January 15 -- Adults' Day in Japan

January 20 -- St. Agnes Eve in Great Britain

January 26 -- Republic Day in India

January-February -- Chinese New Year and Vietnamese New Year (Tet)

February -- Hamstrom on the first Sunday in Switzerland

February 3 -- Setsubun (Bean-throwing Festival) in Japan

February 5 -- Promulgation of the Constitution Day in Mexico

February 6 -- New Zealand Day in New Zealand

February 11 -- National Foundation Day in Japan

February 27 -- Independence Day in the Dominican Republic

March 1 -- Independence Movement Day in Korea; Constitution Day in Panama

March 8 -- International Women's Day in U.N. member nations

March 17 -- St. Patrick's Day in Ireland and Northern Ireland

March 19 -- St. Joseph's Day in Colombia, Costa Rica, Italy, and Spain

March 21 -- Benito Juarez's Birthday in Mexico

March 22 -- Arab League Day in Arab League countries

March 23 -- Pakistan Day in Pakistan

March 25 -- Independence Day in Greece; Lady Day (Quarter Day) in Great Britain

March 26 -- Fiesta del Arbol (Arbor Day) in Spain

March 29 -- Youth and Martyrs' Day in Taiwan

March 30 -- Muslim New Year in Indonesia

March-April -- Carnival/Lent/Easter: The pre-Lenten celebration of Carnival (Mardi Gras) and the post-Lenten celebration of Easter are movable feasts widely observed in Christian countries.

April 1 -- Victory Day in Spain; April Fools' Day (All Fools' Day) in Great Britain

April 5 -- Arbor Day in Korea

April 6 -- Van Riebeeck Day in South Africa

April 7 -- World Health Day in U.N. member nations

April 8 -- Buddha's Birthday in Korea and Japan; Hana Matsuri (Flower Festival) in Japan

April 14 -- Pan American Day in the Americas

April 19 -- Declaration of Independence Day in Venezuela

April 22 -- Queen Isabella Day in Spain

April 23 -- St. George's Day in England

April 25 -- Liberation Day in Italy; ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand

April 26 -- Union Day in Tanzania

April 29 -- Emperor's Birthday in Japan

April 30 -- Queen's Birthday in The Netherlands; Walpurgis Night in Germany and Scandinavia

April-May -- Independence Day in Israel

May -- Constitution Day on first Monday in Japan

May 1 -- May Day-Labor Day in the Commonwealth of Independent States and most of Europe and Latin America

May 5 -- Children's Day in Japan and Korea; Victory of General Zaragosa Day in Mexico; Liberation Day in The Netherlands

May 8 -- V-E Day in Europe

May 9 -- Victory over Fascism Day in the Commonwealth of Independent States

May 14 -- Independence Day in Paraguay

May 31 -- Republic Day in South Africa

June 2 -- Founding of the Republic Day in Italy

June 5 -- Constitution Day in Denmark; World Environment Day in U.N. member nations

June 6 -- Memorial Day in Korea; Flag Day in Sweden

June 8 -- Muhammad's Birthday in Indonesia

June 10 -- Portugal Day in Portugal

June 12 -- Republic Day in the Commonwealth of Independent States; Independence Day in the Philippines

mid-June -- Queen's Official Birthday on second Saturday in Great Britain; Midsummer Celebrations in Sweden

June 16 -- Soweto Day in U.N. member nations

June 20 -- Flag Day in Argentina

June 29 -- Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Italy, Peru, Spain, Vatican City, and Venezuela

July 1 -- Half-year Holiday in Hong Kong; Bank Holiday in Taiwan; Dominion Day in Canada

July 5 -- Independence Day in Venezuela

July 9 -- Independence Day in Argentina

July 10 -- Bon (Feast of Fortune) in Japan

July 12 -- Orangemen's Day in Northern Ireland

July 14 -- Bastille Day in France

mid-July -- Feria de San Fermin during second week in Spain

July 17 -- Constitution Day in Korea

July 18 -- National Day in Spain

July 20 -- Independence Day in Colombia

July 21-22 -- National Holiday in Belgium

July 22 -- National Liberation Day in Poland

July 24 -- Simon Bolivar's Birthday in Ecuador and Venezuela

July 25 -- St. James Day in Spain

July 28-29 -- Independence Day in Peru

August -- Bank Holiday on first Monday in Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Malawi; Discovery Day on first Monday in Trinidad and Tobago; Independence Day on first Tuesday in Jamaica

August 1 -- Lammas Day in England; National Day in Switzerland

August 9 -- National Day in Singapore

August 10 -- Independence Day in Ecuador

August 14 -- Independence Day in Pakistan

August 15 -- Independence Day in India and Korea; Assumption Day in Catholic countries

August 16 -- National Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic

August 17 -- Independence Day in Indonesia

August 31 -- Independence Day in Trinidad and Tobago

September -- Rose of Tralee Festival in Ireland

September 7 -- Independence Day in Brazil

September 9 -- Choxo-no-Sekku (Chrysanthemum Day) in Japan

September 14 -- Battle of San Jacinto Day in Nicaragua

mid-September -- Sherry Wine Harvest in Spain

September 15 -- Independence Day in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua; Respect for the Aged Day in Japan

September 16 -- Independence Day in Mexico and Papua New Guinea

September 18-19 -- Independence Day in Chile

September 28 -- Confucius' Birthday in Taiwan

October -- Thanksgiving Day in Canada on second Monday; Kruger Day in South Africa during second week

October 1 -- National Day in People's Republic of China; Armed Forces Day in Korea; National Holiday in Nigeria

October 2 -- National Day in People's Republic of China; Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday in India

October 3 -- National Day in the Federal Republic of Germany; National Foundation Day in Korea

October 5 -- Republic Day in Portugal

October 9 -- Korean Alphabet Day in Korea

October 10 -- Founding of Republic of China in Taiwan

October 12 -- Columbus Day in Spain and widely throughout Latin America

October 19 -- Ascension of Muhammad Day in Indonesia

October 20 -- Revolution Day in Guatemala; Kenyatta Day in Kenya

October 24 -- United Nations Day in U.N. member nations

October 26 -- National Holiday in Australia

October 28 -- Greek National Day in Greece

November 1 -- All Saints' Day, observed by Catholics in most countries

November 2 -- All Souls' Day in Ecuador, El Salvador, Luxembourg, Macao, Mexico, San Marino, Uruguay, and Vatican City

November 3 -- Culture Day in Japan

November 4 -- National Unity Day in Italy

November 5 -- Guy Fawkes Day in Great Britain

November 11 -- Armistice Day in Belgium, French Guiana, and Tahiti; Veterans Day in France; Remembrance Day in Canada and Bermuda

November 12 -- Sun Yat-sen's Birthday in Taiwan

November 15 -- Proclamation of the Republic Day in Brazil

November 19 -- National Holiday in Monaco

November 20 -- Anniversary of the Revolution in Mexico

November 23 -- Kinro-Kansha-No-Hi (Labor Thanksgiving Day) in Japan

November 30 -- National Heroes' Day in the Philippines

December 5 -- Discovery by Columbus Day in Haiti

December 6 -- Independence Day in Finland

December 8 -- Feast of the Immaculate Conception, widely observed in Catholic countries

December 9 -- Maleficent's Birthday; worldwide day off

December 10 -- Constitution Day in Thailand; Human Rights Day in U.N. member nations

mid-December -- Nine Days of Posada during third week in Mexico

December 25 Christmas Day, widely observed in all Christian countries

December 26 -- St. Stephen's Day in Austria, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Switzerland; Boxing Day in Great Britain and Northern Ireland

December 28 -- National Day in Nepal

December 31 -- New Year's Eve throughout the world; Omisoka (Grand Last Day) in Japan; Hogmanay Day in Scotland



This is A LOT of holidays... surely there's a beer or a national drink of each of these lands!!!

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CSflim

I'm not from Mexican nor America, so I know next to nothing about the holiday.

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KungFuGuy

I get the feeling that the reason its so popular is that there is a large mexican population in the united states. The media picks up on that, sees an advertising opportunity, and get some coverage for it.

It's also in May, and there's a lack of American holidays for that month it would seem. ( I can't think of any).

Grasshopper Green

Memorial Day is at the end of May...kind of the official "start of summer" when people take off for vacation.

All I really know about Cinco de Mayo is it's similar to our July 4th (and I could be wrong about this), and I don't celebrate it at all. It's just another day to me.

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Formerly Medusa

Sultana

I know very little about it, but I go with it because it's FUN, and there's no sense of obligation about it. Plus I appreciate South American culture, and folks with South American roots really know how to have a great, family-oriented party.

The food's great, the drinks are great, the people are fun, it's festive...what's not to like?

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At night, the ice weasels come." -

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My goal? To fulfill my potential.

jorgelito

Cinqo de Mayo is NOT South Maerican, it is Mexican. Also, St. Patricks Day and Oktoberfest are not national independence day celebrations the way Cinqo de Mayo is supposed to be. Furthermore, the population of Mexicans in the United States is not that large (not a significant majority).

Actually, the reason why it is so big here is that is is well marketed as an excuse to drink beer, especially among the young crowd. Most celebrants do not understand its political origins. So, Cinqo de May (in the US) is more like a MArdi Gras, Carnivale type "holiday".

Seaver

Cinqo de Mayo is not Mexican independence day.

Willravel

There are more Mexicans in my neighborhood than all the other races combined. Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday just like St. Patricks and Oktoberfest. There are more Mexicans in the US than Germans (immigrints). It's true that many people do not understand the political orgins of Cinco de Mayo, so I'll try to hep out a bit:

It's a celebration of liberation from debt. I'd be celebrating, too...teach Citicard a lesson, too.

snowy

In the Western United States, Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated because of the large population of immigrants. Portland, Oregon has one of the largest celebrations of Cinco de Mayo in the world.

I find it interesting that no one asked why we celebrate St. Patricks Day when St. Paddy's was over.

Okay, so we celebrate the life of a guy who spent his time ridding Ireland of heathens by drinking ourselves silly. Seems to me that Cinco de Mayo makes a bit more sense--celebrating victory. I also can't help but notice we have no problem adopting holidays when drinking is involved.

We are a country of immigrants, which is why we celebrate things like Cinco de Mayo, St. Patricks Day, and Oktoberfest. (Side note: while we don't see a lot of the German population freshly immigrated, a good portion of the American population has roots there.) It is only natural that we would all celebrate different cultural holidays. I can guarantee you there are holidays I celebrate that you don't.

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raeanna74

St. Patty's day it somewhat more of an established holiday. I see it on my calendars that I buy in the stores anywhere. I don't see Cinco De Mayo on the calendars. I've hardly even heard of Cinco De Mayo before this year. I'm sure I did but I didn't hear of it as often before.

Also we don't have an Oktoberfest in our town so I wouldn't count that one either.

I think St Patty's day is more prolific because it's also more of a religiously based holiday. There are fewer American holidays that have no religious celebrations that go with them.

__________________
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My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

snowy

I think you'll probably find that that is a regional phenomenon. Most of the calendars sold out West come marked with Cinco de Mayo.

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oberon

For me, it is an excuse to go out. However, for the ~1 million Hispanics living in Denver, it's probably more than that. Thus, they closed Colfax Avenue (the main east-west artery in Denver) in the downtown area for a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Who am I to say no to that? I went and it was fun!

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jorgelito

Thanks Seaver for the clarification - I guess it is even more obscure then; celebrates a vicorious battle over the French. For some reason, the good people of Los Angeles keep refering to Cinqo de Mayo as Mexican Independence Day. Go figure.

I'm not sure but I thought German Americans make up a substantial portion of the population. a "trip" to the census website could probably clarify things up. THe last time I checked it, the top four groups in the US were: German, Anglo, Irish, Italian - but that was a while ago. But, seeing how white Americans make up 70%+ of the population, it is still difficult to see how Mexicans make up any significant majority.

As for Hispanics in Denver? Are they all Mexican? If not, why would they care. hispanics are not a monolithic group/
I don't think Oktoberfest is really a holiday is it?

St. Patrick's Day has probably been marginalized to just a "drinking" occasion. I didn't know before that it was to commemorate St Patrik driving the snakes out of Ireland (or is that just urban legend?).

Well, drink up!

I live in a Latin neighborhood - it was very quiet on Friday, no one celebrating. But Christmas (er, Feliz Navidad)? Forget about it! Our neighborhood is out in force. Carollers, lights everything - it is quite nice. But May 5th? Nuthin... I guess it just depends, can't really generalize.

JumpinJesus

I understand somewhat where raeanna is coming from. I grew up in California, where Cinco de Mayo was fairly established. It also happens to be my daughter's birthday. When she was born (in Germany) I told my then-wife "Hey! Her birthday is on a holiday!" My then-wife was from Ohio and had no idea what I was talking about. She had never heard of Cinco de Mayo. 16 years ago, neither Corona nor Dos Equis had latched onto it as a marketing tool. Once they did, Cinco de Mayo became St. Patrick's Day 2: Alcoholic Boogaloo for us Americans. It's a holiday very few Amerians understand beyond the idea that it means another excuse to get to' up.

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iamnormal

"The History of Mayonnaise
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo"

splck

Cinco de Mayo goes along with Chinese New year, St Patrick’s Day, October fest and all the other celebrations during the year. Really, I don't see what the big deal is. Being new to you doesn't make it wrong.
I'm sure it's in the forefront because of all the illegal immigrant attention in the news lately.

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nice line eh?

goddfather40

Growing up here in SoCal it is definitely considered at the least on par, but probably more heavily celebrated than the somewhat analogous St. Patty's Day. I remember some sort of celebration for this day all the way back to elementary school with folklorico dancers and mariachi's at school wide celebrations, etc. It's pretty funny how we celebrate it here and how parts of Mexico really don't seem to consider too big of a holiday. I consider it a day to eat good food, drink margaritas, and hang out with good friends.

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Zodijackyl

Cinco de Mayo is a great time to go to chinese restaurants, because the staff will be glad to see some customers then, and you'll get even better service than usual, and the chef(s) will only fewer to do, and thus more attention will be paid to your food. This only applies to good restaurants though, as I recently found out many cheaper restaurants buy premade dishes and this is why many are the same.
I'm not a fan of mexican beer either.

smooth

Given the history of German immigrants and Wisconsin, in general, I'm really surprised to hear that there would be any part of that state not celebrating Oktoberfest. If it's not in the town somewhere, at least any Lutheran church is going to have some kind of gathering


but directly to your OP, I think the reason why places that haven't traditionally been exposed to major may 5 celebrations are now hearing about it now is at least partly due to immigration issues and the recent protests. I doubt it's any desire to be multicultural. and to your indirect question, as to why should we even care, I think that certain portions of our nation have had complicated relations with mexico. part of our heritage has been shared for longer than it hasn't. and much of that heritage has been postiive influences, back and forth, including our unification against European colonialists.

but as I've noted elsewhere, it really boils for me personally that, like any other good-blooded native american/latino/german I really need only minimal...minimal...minimal reason to celebrate and drink

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raeanna74

You know I am surprised myself that they don't have an Oktoberfest celebration. The town is made up of 54.9% German ancestry. But I double checked the City of Merrill's online calendar and there is no mention of any city sanctioned celebration. Or even in nearby towns to the north and south

As a side note I found out that the hispanic population in our town is only 1.0% so the fact that there is no Cinco De Mayo hoopla here makes a little sense.

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Cynthetiq

Beer holiday just like a Hallmark Holiday.


and there's a reason to drink at the drop of a hat... it's 5pm somewhere in the world, and it's a good day, bad day, rainy day, sunny day, birthday, funeral, there's always a reason to celebrate ad infinitum.

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Daknjak

And may I add, that no other holiday really has the fun title of "Cinco De Mayo". it just makes you feel good doesn't it? All us whiteys just love to get a little "latin" now and again. *disclaimer - that statement was meant to be ironic, and a little sarcastic. I in no way intended to sound racist in any way. that goes for the crackers like myself as well.*

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