Melissa Frederick, The Examiner
2008-05-02 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

This weekend, margaritas will flow and mariachis will play as D.C. gets into the spirit of Cinco de Mayo a bit ahead of the Monday holiday.

Cinco de Mayo is a regional celebration of Mexican heritage, not the date of Mexico’s independence, as commonly thought. The date marks when Mexican forces beat the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

“It’s a minor Mexican holiday; it’s actually much bigger here in the U.S.,” said Jennifer Hinrichs, manager of the Maru Montero Dance Company. The group is one of the main performers at D.C.’s National Cinco de Mayo Festival this Sunday.

Organizers of the festival, which is now in its 16th year, take the opportunity to expose attendees to a number of Latin cultures, rather than just Mexican. The day has become almost a Latin American reunion on the Mall, Hinrichs said. The event drew 3,000 attendees last year, despite bad weather, and if the sun cooperates, Hinrichs projected closer to 6,000 this year.

Dancers will perform routines influenced by Peru, El Salvador, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico. There will be food, family-friendly activities such as soccer games and crafts, and appearances by charros, or Mexican cowboys.

The event has its first fine arts exhibit featuring Latino artists as well, according to Hinrichs.

Despite the scope of the event, the national festival is not the only game in town — Austin Grill is sponsoring a street festival in Silver Spring on Monday from 5 to 9 p.m.

“We’re going to make it as much of a traditional Cinco De Mayo festival as we can,” said Karen Snowden, the restaurant’s marketing manager. The event will have Latin dancers and dance lessons, a Mexican beer garden, mariachi and a raffle.

This weekend and Monday itself are expected to be big days for area Mexican restaurants.

Oyamel, Mexicali Blues and Guajillo are among restaurants offering specials beginning Friday, and Cafe Citron in D.C. will offer free shots on Monday to all people wearing red, white and green, for the Mexican flag. Though the Cinco De Mayo festival’s Web site claims that “On Cinco de Mayo, everybody’s Latino!’ ” Mexicali Blues owner Karen Orlando said that, in terms of business, the holiday still gets eclipsed by St. Patrick’s Day. The restaurant plans to hold hula hoop contests and give away prizes throughout the weekend.

“It being on a Monday is really going to change things,” she said. “It’s sort of like when you have Halloween on a weekday; you party the weekend before.”

Jeanette Der Bedrosian contributed to this report.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com