Let’s celebrate Cinco de Mayo!

It’s almost time for one of my favorite holidays —Cinco de Mayo! I may have absolutely zero Mexican DNA, but that does not stop me on this holiday! ha

So – – I gathered some really fun facts about this holiday, you can now impress your friends while dining on tacos!

1) It is not a celebration of independence – its a celebration of Mexico’s victory in the battle at Puebla on May 5, 1862 during the Franco-Mexican war. The Mexican militia were outnumbered by the French so it was an unlikely victory.

2) Mexico did win the battle BUT not the war. The French went won the war, occupying the region for 5 years.

3) Abraham Lincoln sympathized with the Mexican cause but was not able to physically help due to the fact that this was at the same time as the Civil War, however, once the Civil War ended, the US forced France to withdraw its troops from Mexico and their empire collapsed.

4) Not a federal holiday in Mexico. This one got me! Americans – I swear we can take any celebration from another country (remember St Patrick’s day??) and make it a reason to eat and drink. USA! USA! USA! You wanna know what famous American helped popularize this holiday? President Roosevelt that’s who! It was after he enacted the “Good Neighbor” policy in 1933 to improve relations with Latin American countries

5) Holy guacamole! According to the CA Avocado Commission, Americans consume up to 81 million pounds of avocados on Cinco de Mayo every year!

6) The World’s largest Cinco de Mayo party is held in……………..Los Angeles, CA! Sure, other cities throw some big shindigs but nothing like LA!  Some of these parties even have Chihuahua races lol What a hoot! Can you guess what city does this? Chandler, AZ of all places!

7) Americans not only love their tacos – but their tequila. According to the Daily Meal, the US consumes twice as much Tequila as Mexico where it originated!

After your celebrations have commenced – there are plenty of fun products in the store to carry out the theme!

I hope you all find a happy way to celebrate this fun holiday!